This AOL Search profile is continued from page one.
AOL Local Search
AOL Local Search is especially interesting. You can set your location right off the bat, or you can choose to "sign on to retrieve your saved locations." I typed in "Portland Oregon" and got weather forecasts and recent hot searches in my area, with an invitation to keep searching locally for anything I might feel like searching for.AOL Shopping Search
AOL's shopping search results are powered by Shopzilla, one of the featured shopping search engines in my Online Shopping Guide. You'll notice a shopping bag favicon (small icon displayed next to your search query) in the search bar when you're shopping at AOL; as well as a house for Local Search, a newspaper for News Search, a speaker for Audio Search, a video camera for Video Search, a camera for Pictures Search, and a generic pointer for Web Search.This is just another example of AOL's continual striving to make the Web, in particular Web searching, accessible to everyone, regardless of their Web search comfort level.
Advanced Searching with AOL Search
You have a few advanced search options with AOL Search, including the choice to include all words, exact phrases, just one word or more included, kick out certain words, language, file format, etc.I noticed that AOL Search did not respond when I used the "site:search query" string, but it worked just fine when I did the "link:search query" string. Most of what you'll need to do advanced-wise with AOL Search can be accomplished with the Advanced Search page.
Special AOL Search Features - Smartbox
As you're typing in your query, sometimes you'll see a Smartbox Suggestion right underneath the search bar. From the Smartbox information page:"AOL is continually inventing new ways to take the challenge out of finding what you're looking for online. AOL created Smartbox to simplify the search and navigation process and shorten the time needed to get where you want to go. Through our Patent Pending technology, we are able to provide search suggestions as you're typing your search query."
Basically, these "smart searches" are shortcuts to what AOL Search thinks that you might actually be looking for
AOL Search Snapshots
Another feature I appreciated was AOL Snapshots, which are instant answers for more than four million common queries.Why Should I Use AOL Search?
Here's a few reasons that I think you should use AOL Search:- Ease of use. AOL's got this one down to a science.
- Relevant results organized in an accessible way. Sponsored results and web results clearly marked, clustered search suggestions - it all adds up to a nicely organized search results page.
- Cool features. AOL's clip and save widget, the Snapshots addition, and SmartBox Answers are all reasons why I can recommend AOL Search.
