Here’s something you might not expect: MSN Search contains a fairly advanced
search engine—more advanced, in some ways, than Google. One of the cool
things about MSN Search is that you can use Boolean operators to fine-tune
your searches. All you have to do is insert the appropriate operators when you
enter your query in the search box and MSN Search will narrow your search
accordingly.


AND

The first Boolean operator you can use with MSN Search is the AND operator.
You use the AND operator to make sure that search results include both (or all)
the words in your query. So, for example, you wanted to search for pages about
Toyota Supras, you’d enter toyota AND supra.
Of course, you don’t actually have to use the AND operator; all MSN searches
are AND searches by default. So the AND is implied, and including it in your
query is superfluous. Sorry.


OR


More interesting is the OR operator. You use the OR operator to conduct
either/or searches. So, for example, if you wanted to search for pages about
either hurricanes or tornadoes, you’d enter hurricanes OR tornadoes. The
search results page will include hurricane pages, tornado pages, and even (but
not exclusively) pages about both hurricanes and tornadoes.


NOT

The third Boolean operator supported by MSN Search is the NOT operator. You
use the NOT operator to exclude specified words from your search results. So,
for example, if you wanted to search for all Presidents of the United States
except for Richard Nixon, you’d enter presidents NOT nixon.


MSN Search also lets you use the non-Boolean “plus” (+) and “minus” (-)
operators to include and exclude words from your search.


Stringing Together Multiple Operators

MSN Search also lets you string together multiple Boolean operators together
in a complex query. The operators work in order from left to right, just as if you
were constructing an algebraic equation.


Here are a few examples:


To search for cowboy movies that don’t star Randolph Scott, enter cow­
boy AND movies NOT scott

To search for fashion models that aren’t blondes or redheads, enter
models NOT blondes OR redheads

To search for recipes using either beef or chicken, enter recipes AND
beef OR chicken
And so on.


Exact Phrase Search

There’s one more operator to mention, even if it isn’t technically a Boolean one.
That’s the “exact phrase” operator—the quotation mark. When you want to
restrict your search to an exact phrase, simply enclose the entire phrase in quo­
tation marks. So if you’re searching for the play The Taming of the Shrew, enter
“the taming of the shrew”. It’s that simple.








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