| Yahoo! | Magellan | Altavista | Excite | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Proximity or Phrase | Phrase(" ") = exact word order | Phrase(" ") = exact word order | Phrase(" "), or ; between words. Proximity = NEAR (~) | Phrase (" ") |
| Relevancy Ranking | Multiple keyword; title more than body/URL; hierarchical | Yes | Advanced Search = Sort By | Yes |
| Boolean Logic | Can select AND, OR | Can select AND, OR, AND NOT, can nest operators | AND (&), AND NOT (!), OR (default) (|), can nest operators | Can select AND, OR, AND NOT, can nest operators |
| Required/Excluded Terms | + (MUST), - (MUST NOT) | + (MUST), - (MUST NOT) | + (MUST), - (MUST NOT) | + (MUST), - (MUST NOT) |
| Truncation | Right-hand only | [NA]1 | Right-hand & internal (0-5 characters) | [No]2 |
| Case Sensitive | [No] | [NA] | No, but caps. force case match on word | [No] |
| Retrieval Display Options | Number of results displayed | No | Standard, Compact, Detailed, As a Count Only | View by Web Site (See also Power Search) |
| Other Limiters | Time (currentness) | Reviewed and Green Light sites; Find Similar | Several, for Web and Usenet searches | Broaden w. "More Like This"; concept-based |
1Information Not Available from engine's web pages.
2Information supplied by this author after personal use of the engine.