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Save Time using Conceptual Groups |
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iMetaSearch uses cutting edge technology called Latent Semantic Analysis to put related results together into groups. These groups are represented by colors, so by scanning down the group column in the Search Results area, you can see which results are related to each other.
The Groups of Results area contains a list of all the groups, one row per group. You can see the group color and description by looking in this area. The group slider control in this area controls the number of groups, from a small number of general groups, to a large number of very specific groups.
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Get Better Results with Personal Relevance |
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Search engines today usually have a proprietary method for ranking their results based on many factors. The problem with this approach is that once displayed, the rankings do not change and you are forced to search the whole list of results to find interesting ones. For example, when searching for jaguars you may find sports teams, cars, the animal, and who knows what else. How to focus on the one particular idea that you have in mind?
In iMetaSearch, you simply mark an interesting result (by clicking its checkbox in the Mark column) and all relevance scores of all search results are updated according to how similar they are to the one you just marked. In addition, all search results are automatically sorted, so the most relevant ones appear on top.
By repeatedly marking results you like, you give iMetaSearch a better and better idea of what you are looking for, and it is able to give those results high relevance and sort them to the top. By doing this, you are giving each result a personal relevance score instead of relying on the generic score supplied by the search engine.
In addition to marking results, you can also mark entire groups in the Groups area, or mark words and phrases in the Extracted Words area.
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Find Related People and Websites |
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iMetaSearch can filter the extracted words of a search in a number of ways to help you find people, websites, or words/phrases related to your search.
- Filter by people - iMetaSearch can filter the search words to look for people names. Not all the resulting words and phrases will actually be names, but iMetaSearch does its best to find the likely names.
- Filter by website - iMetaSearch can also filter the search words to look for websites. It recognizes when a word or phrase is a possible website, although it is not completely accurate.
- Filter by text - finally iMetaSearch can filter the search words by only keeping those that contain or do not contain certain words or text. For example, when searching on "flu" you could filter the search words to only show the ones that contain "swine".
This capability is valuable for quickly generating and exporting a list of people, websites, or keywords that fit certain criteria. |
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Zoom In/Out on Groups and Words |
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The number of groups can be adjusted by using the Group slider control. You can zoom in and see small, very specific groups of results or zoom back out and see just large general groups.
Similarly, you can use the Extracted Words slider control to zoom in and see every word, even those that occur in only one search result, or zoom back out and see just the most common words.
This gives you a fast way of deciding whether it's better to further explore this search, or just pick out an interesting word or phrase and start a new search.
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Export Searches for Analysis |
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If you want to share your search results or analyze them further with another tool, iMetaSearch can export both search results and/or the extracted words to an Excel (CSV) file.
Exporting results into Excel allows you to do graphical or statistical analysis as well as send results to other people who can view them using Excel. |
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Quickly Perform Related Searches |
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iMetaSearch can launch an immediate search on any extracted word or phrase you choose. Just right click the word, and choose the Quick Search option to start a new search. Once the search finishes, you will be able to view the search results, groups, and extracted words just like a regular search.
By chaining together follow-up searches, you can quickly refine your search to zero in on likely search terms and likely results. |
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Track Changes in any Search |
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iMetaSearch can update any previous search by clicking the Update Search menu item. This reruns the same search, but adds any new search results it finds to the current search and also updates the groups and extracted words to incorporate the new search results.
By doing this on a regular basis, you can keep track of what new search words and phrases are becoming more popular and what search results are moving up the ranks or falling in rank. |
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Plug-in More Engines (Pro version only) |
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New engines can be added just by dropping them into the iMetaSearch folder and restarting iMetaSearch. The new engines will be available for use, as you will be able to verify by looking at the Engines | Choose Engines menu item which lists all the available engines.
If you use only one search engine, you may miss important results in your search. iMetaSearch widens your search by using many search engines in parallel. Not only does this reduce the chance of missing valuable results, it also speeds up searching, because all the engines are asked for their results at the same time.
Fixing engines may occasionally be necessary because the format of the search engine results page has changed, and search results are not being extracted properly. If this happens, you can fix the engines yourself using the Engines | Fix Engine menu item. You don't need to depend on someone else to fix engines. |
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Gather Unlimited Results (Pro version only) |
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Many meta search engines limit the search results they get from search engines to the first page of results, or perhaps the first couple of pages. iMetaSearch Pro can get as many search results from the search engines as they an supply. Usually this is between 1000 and 2000 results.
This enables you to dive deep into an engine and gather hundreds of results without having to scan through page after page of results by hand. The free version of iMetaSearch is limited to gathering 100 results at a time. |
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