What are the features of AOL Search?
Have you ever looked at a search results page and wondered what all the features mean? This lesson will explain what each element is and how it can help get you to the results you want, quickly and efficiently. Understanding these features will allow you to get the most out of your search experience.
Sponsored links are advertisements that appear at the top of the search results page. Unlike magazine or television ads that target a broad audience, search ads are tailored to what you are looking for.
Search advertisers participate in a keyword auction to purchase ads on the search results page. Later, when a user enters that keyword into the search box, the winning ads are displayed on the page. The order in which the ads appear for a given keyword depends on a number of factors, the most important of which are highest bid and keyword relevance. This combination helps ensure you are seeing ads that are most meaningful to you, and that advertisers are reaching the people who are most likely to be interested in their products.
For example, a national restaurant chain, a frozen foods company and a local pizza parlor may all bid in the ad auction for the search keyword “pizza.” The frozen foods company may place the highest bid, but if the search provider knows that most people who search for “pizza” are looking for places where they can order take-out, this ad is less relevant than the other two. In this case, the frozen pizza ad may appear third behind the national chain and the local pizza parlor.
Organic links form the bulk of the results for most search terms. Organic links appear below the sponsored links and are ordered based on a ranking of their relevance to the query entered in the box. Organic search results are determined by a formula used by the search engine.
For some queries, the top organic results may be the same (or very similar to) the sponsored links. For example, if you search for “pizza,” you may notice that the top organic result is for the same national pizza chain that appeared in the top sponsored link spot.
Because AOL has a vast content network covering news, entertainment, lifestyle, sports and other topics such as weather or stock quotes, we sometimes display a result that shows some of this information above the top organic result. These “Featured Results” are designed to help you get to the information you want more quickly by offering results tailored the content that other users look for when using AOL Search.
When you begin entering your query into AOL Search, you may notice that a drop-down menu containing search terms opens below the search box. This is the search suggestions feature that is designed to help save you time and eliminate typographical errors by offering you suggestions based on what you type. For example, if you type “piz” into the search box as you begin your search for pizza, you may see suggestions for pizza coupons, pizza recipes, pizza ovens, etc. Clicking on one of these terms will execute a search for that term.
Related searches are links that appear at the bottom of the AOL Search results page. These are terms similar to the one you entered that may be helpful in either expanding or narrowing your search results. If you select one of these options, you will see a new results page with both sponsored and organic links for the new term. For example, if you search for “pizza” you may see related searches for styles of pizza or for places where you can order pizza online.
The search history feature is available only to users who have logged into the system. It is accessible via the Search History link in the search page header and is intended to help you find and use recent searches. Your searches can be sorted further by type -- web results, images and news. This can be very handy for comparison shopping, online research and other activities where you may wish to revisit the same searches several times over.
By default, your search history is saved for 30 days and then removed. You can also manually remove searches that you do not wish to retain for the full 30-day period by clicking on the History drop-down arrow on the top right of the search page and click the Clear link. You can also delete individual search terms by clicking on the Go to Search History link and by clicking on the trash bin icon to the right of the query term.
Sponsored Links (Ads related to..)
Sponsored links are advertisements that appear at the top of the search results page. Unlike magazine or television ads that target a broad audience, search ads are tailored to what you are looking for.
Search advertisers participate in a keyword auction to purchase ads on the search results page. Later, when a user enters that keyword into the search box, the winning ads are displayed on the page. The order in which the ads appear for a given keyword depends on a number of factors, the most important of which are highest bid and keyword relevance. This combination helps ensure you are seeing ads that are most meaningful to you, and that advertisers are reaching the people who are most likely to be interested in their products.
For example, a national restaurant chain, a frozen foods company and a local pizza parlor may all bid in the ad auction for the search keyword “pizza.” The frozen foods company may place the highest bid, but if the search provider knows that most people who search for “pizza” are looking for places where they can order take-out, this ad is less relevant than the other two. In this case, the frozen pizza ad may appear third behind the national chain and the local pizza parlor.
Organic Links
Organic links form the bulk of the results for most search terms. Organic links appear below the sponsored links and are ordered based on a ranking of their relevance to the query entered in the box. Organic search results are determined by a formula used by the search engine.
For some queries, the top organic results may be the same (or very similar to) the sponsored links. For example, if you search for “pizza,” you may notice that the top organic result is for the same national pizza chain that appeared in the top sponsored link spot.
AOL Featured Results
Because AOL has a vast content network covering news, entertainment, lifestyle, sports and other topics such as weather or stock quotes, we sometimes display a result that shows some of this information above the top organic result. These “Featured Results” are designed to help you get to the information you want more quickly by offering results tailored the content that other users look for when using AOL Search.
Search Suggestions
When you begin entering your query into AOL Search, you may notice that a drop-down menu containing search terms opens below the search box. This is the search suggestions feature that is designed to help save you time and eliminate typographical errors by offering you suggestions based on what you type. For example, if you type “piz” into the search box as you begin your search for pizza, you may see suggestions for pizza coupons, pizza recipes, pizza ovens, etc. Clicking on one of these terms will execute a search for that term.
Related Searches
Related searches are links that appear at the bottom of the AOL Search results page. These are terms similar to the one you entered that may be helpful in either expanding or narrowing your search results. If you select one of these options, you will see a new results page with both sponsored and organic links for the new term. For example, if you search for “pizza” you may see related searches for styles of pizza or for places where you can order pizza online.
Search History
The search history feature is available only to users who have logged into the system. It is accessible via the Search History link in the search page header and is intended to help you find and use recent searches. Your searches can be sorted further by type -- web results, images and news. This can be very handy for comparison shopping, online research and other activities where you may wish to revisit the same searches several times over.
By default, your search history is saved for 30 days and then removed. You can also manually remove searches that you do not wish to retain for the full 30-day period by clicking on the History drop-down arrow on the top right of the search page and click the Clear link. You can also delete individual search terms by clicking on the Go to Search History link and by clicking on the trash bin icon to the right of the query term.