March 1997
Internet Prospector

EXCITE
has indexed over 50 million URLS and excludes duplicate and dead links which should give an exact document count. Results can be sorted by relevancy or by site (categorizing your results under its particular root URL; for example, "www.ben.com/ben.html" is found under "www.ben.com"). Your search results are found at both the beginning and the end of the page. After reviewing your first ten hits, the query box is found at the end of the page, allowing you to perform a new search, modify or save your current search or switch your search from the Web to Usenet groups, classifieds or Excite site reviews (review topics are also along the left-side of the page). In this engine, you can search using Boolean logic by capitalizing the operators (like AND, OR, AND NOT), as well as use the "+" and "-" symbols. An example of this type of search is found right under the query box. Also, there are hotlinks to the Help and advanced search tips page, which are clearly stated with examples and explanations of your search results. One nice feature of the Help page is the explanations of browser error codes.

The search engine allows phrase searching, plain English queries and advanced search techniques. Along with exact word matches, it searches by concept. This broadens your search, basically by searching for synonyms or words closely related to those in your query. Initially skeptical, mostly because I usually work to refine my search, this feature proved fruitful in some of my searches. Clicking on "More like this" you find pages related to the particular entry. While searching for Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry's fame, I selected "More like this" next to a hit with Ben Cohen's biography, resulting in a biography of Ben Cohen's partner, an article on favorite entrepreneurs, top business people featuring Ben & Jerry's leaders, as well as more biographical articles about the two. Rather than scrolling through hundreds of hits to find what I wanted, I found completely relevant hits all on one page.

Along the left side of the page, find other services including City.Net for travel resources, the Reference section for multiple lookups like people and address finders, business resources, shareware and more, as well as a tour of the Web. And Excite can be added right to your browser. The NewsTracker is a stand-out feature that allows you to search over 300 papers and magazines, then sort the results by publication. Also, the headlines from these resources are found on Excite's home page. A search for Mr. Cohen and ice cream produced only two hits in Newstracker but the related articles (similar to "More like this") were legion. Find Excite at
http://www.excite.com

(From PJ Smith)