The Internet today is a storehouse of information of planetary proportions, where every inhabitant of the Earth is able to find almost everything that he needs. Possessing unthinkable volumes of data and information, mankind also has all the necessary tools for the fastest and most comfortable search for what everyone needs at a certain point in time. These tools are search engines that each of us uses every day: Google, Yandex, Rambler, Yahoo and many other technologies with their unique capabilities for different preferences.
And they are united by absolutely one simple property - none of the systems is a kind of super-technological center that stores in its resources an unimaginable amount of information for all occasions. All of them, in essence, are guides for users on the vast expanses of the Internet and work on certain software algorithms.
The search engine query language "Yandex": the basics
The functional of Yandex allows you to sort all the results obtained quite flexibly, taking into account specific domains, regions, languages and many other parameters. The input format and the results can be adjusted and filtered by users with simple character combinations. Thanks to this, the search efficiency and convenience are significantly increased.
Each request from the user is first sent to the most free server (immediately after the automatic analysis of the system load), after which the Metapoisk program is engaged in its processing. The software real-time analyzes the entered information in the search line for linguistics, the user's geographical location, whether the query belongs to the categories of “most popular” / “recently defined”, etc. Search results for these cases are stored for some time in the “Metasearch” cache ”, Due to which the delivery of the necessary information is faster.
In the case of searching for more rare information, information about which is not available in the cache, the processing of the request is redirected to another software mechanism - Basic Search. He analyzes the entire database, divided into various duplicate servers to speed up the search process, and returns the information found back to "Metasearch".
All received data is eventually ordered and presented to the user in a finished, conveniently perceived form. The whole process on average takes a maximum of 1-2 seconds.
Proper search in Yandex: the language of search queries and syntax features
The presence of certain words in the results, as well as their relative position can be easily adjusted using special operators that form the language of Yandex search queries.
| Operator | Function | Usage example |
| + | Displaying results for those resources in which there is necessarily a word designated by the operator. The query language of the Yandex search system can be reused if there are two or more words in the query. | Worldwide + Web + Internet Yandex will give those results that accurately contain the words “web”, “internet” and, possibly, “worldwide”. |
| " | Search for a specific form or sequence of characters. | "goes far into a crimson sunset"
Search results will necessarily contain this phrase without changes. |
| * | Used only with the previous statement. This symbol allows you to organize a search for a quote with missing words. | leaves * in a crimson sunset
The search engine will return results with the given quote and the missing word. leaves ** sunset
The search engine will return results with this quote and missing words. |
| & | Search for results with sentences that contain words combined by this operator. | beautiful & interior & home The user will be presented with results in which at least one sentence contains a given set of words (they can be set by an operator of two or more). |
| && | Search for resources that simply contain a given set of words. | referendum && UK && Europe & crisis All results containing these words will be displayed regardless of the distance and location to each other. |
According to the signs of official information
There are Yandex search query operators to refine information on such parameters as: headers, file types, host, domains, date of the last change of the results pages and their language.
| Operator | Function | Usage example |
| title: | Search for documents containing the words from the query in the headings. | title: mechanical engineering Documents with the word "mechanical engineering" and its word forms in the title will be found. title: (mechanical engineering of Germany) Documents with headings containing the words "engineering" and "Germany" will be found (for queries in which you need to combine two or more words to search, you must put brackets). |
| mime: | Search for documents in a specific format. | mime resume template: docx The search results will be all documents of the .docx format that contain the words “template” and “resume”. |
| host: | Search through pages hosted on a specific host. | host bill: www.yandex.ru The host www.yandex.ru will search for all documents containing the word "bill". |
| domain: | Search the pages of the entire domain. | Hilary Clinton host: www.whitehouse.gov All documents containing the words “Hilary” and “Clinton” will be searched on the domain www.whitehouse.gov. |
| date: | Search the pages taking into account the date of their last change (using the Yandex query language also provides for the absence of the day and month value if replaced with *). | event of the day date: 20160624 All documents containing the words “event” and “day” will be found, as well as their word forms, the date of the last changes of which corresponds to 06.24.2016 summit date: 20150819..date20150909 Search for results whose latest changes date is in the range from 08/19/2015 to 09/09/2015 cruise date:> 20160611 All results are displayed, the date of the last change of which is later than 06/11/2016 - <- date of the last changes earlier than the specified term
- > = - the latest changes are made later or in the same specified period
- <= - recent changes made earlier or within the same specified period
|
| lang: | Search pages in a specific language: - ru - russian
- be - Belarusian
- uk - english
- en - english
- fr - français
- de - deutsch
- kk - ққ
- tt - tatarça
- tr - türkçe
| green card lang: en Search for English documents for this request. |
Almost any foreign counterpart has a similar query language. The language of Yandex search queries, in turn, differs from its competitors by and large in slightly more advanced capabilities and functions.
Morphological refinements
By default, the search engine offers the user a wide range of results for an entered query, the basis of which is not only the entered word / phrase itself, but also its various forms (case, gender, declension, number, etc.). Also taken into account are variations of a part of speech (whether it is a noun, a verb, an adjective, etc.) and the case of the first letter. For example, when entering “attacked” in the search box, the user will receive information on other verb forms: “attack”, “attack”, “attacked” (but cognates like “attack”, “attacked” will not be taken into account). In this case, the results will be shown both with a capital first letter in the requested word, and with a small one.
Almost all the features of the query language of various search engines are based on similar principles of operation. In Yandex, a restriction on morphological characteristics can come in handy for more accurate search engine operation:
| Operator | Function | Usage example |
| ! | Word search exclusively in the given form. The language of Yandex search queries allows the operator to be reused if there are two or more words in the query. | !the Internet Yandex will give all the results in the given request form with a capital and lowercase first letter. !The Internet Yandex gives results according to the given request form, starting exclusively with a capital letter. |
| !! | A slightly broader search for the word and its derivative forms. | !!stump The results of any of the forms of this word (“kick”, “stump”, “hemp”, etc.) will be displayed, however, results with a similar word form of the verb “kick” will be excluded. |
Special methods for selecting keywords for contextual advertising
Search query languages also extend far beyond the user segment, rewarding simple work tools and advertisers. In particular, for such purposes, Yandex is armed with a number of algorithms and operators that can effectively promote their sites and services in a search engine.
The logic of displaying contextual advertising to user requests is based on the selection of words thematically related to the subject of this announcement, as well as their other word forms. For example, such methods make it possible to display an announcement about legal services not only in response to “legal services in the city N”, but also to those users who made similar requests (be it “lawyers city N prices”, “law firms”, “ lawyer, city N is cheap ”, etc.). As a result, advertising will be displayed to a wider audience of users, and this, accordingly, will potentially attract more attention to it.
However, ads should only be shown to users who make thematically related queries in a search engine. For example, advertising of legal courses will not be effective in any way if it is shown to users who need the services of a lawyer at the moment. Regulation of such moments is carried out using a whole list of operators in the Yandex search engine. The description of the query language for advertising tasks as a whole will look like the one shown below.
| Operator | Function | Usage example |
| - | An exception is for words in queries when the ad will not show. Repeated use of the operator is allowed if it is necessary to set two or more exceptions. | law courses cheap An ad will be shown on all requests with the words “lawyer” and “cheap”, but excluding those that contain the word “courses”. lawyer practice courses In this case, the advertisement will be visible to users for queries containing the word “lawyer”, but will not be displayed for queries with the words “courses” and “practice”. |
| + | Display ads for those queries that have a particular word / words. | + rent + apartments + Sochi cheap Advertising is displayed in requests containing the words “rent,” “apartments,” and “Sochi,” and may be displayed on requests containing the word “inexpensively.” |
| ! | The operator serves to determine the specific form of the word in the queries, according to which the message will be displayed (or vice versa). | ! club! Lepasso Advertising is shown only for those queries that contain at least one of these two words in a specific form. In this case, “Lepasso” in the request must begin with a capital letter to display the ad. ! club! Lepasso! paintball
Everything is the same, but ads will not be displayed for queries containing the word "paintball", which helps to weed out the target audience.
|
() | Grouping words for complex queries consisting of several words (the Yandex search query language allows you to use this function for two or more words). | car- (rental) An ad will be shown upon request containing the word “car”, but at the same time not having the words “rent” and “rent”. + (buy a car Vladivostok) cheap Advertising is displayed for queries that necessarily contain the words “car”, “buy”, “Vladivostok” and which may contain the word “cheap”. |
| "" | Displays an ad for queries that contain only quoted words or their word forms. | "programmer" Advertising is shown for queries of this word and its word forms like “programmer”, “programmer”. At the same time, the advertisement will not be shown for such user requests as “computer repair programmer is inexpensive”, “website hacking programmer”. |
Lessons of comfort and simplicity from Yandex search tips
Simplification of the process of entering search information using hints is perceived without any excitement. Such a technology is present in every popular search engine today; it is based on preliminary issuing of popular queries similar to the letters entered by the user in the search string.
Yandex implements this system through some proprietary features. All tooltips are processed and grouped from among the most popular user requests. Scientific terms are also used from encyclopedic articles, the names of films, musical works and other thematically relevant content. As a result, the user from the moment the very first letter is entered into the search line receives under it a whole list of variants of the most popular queries starting with the same characters.
In addition, the tips may immediately indicate links to the necessary sites or the answer to the question. For example, it is enough to enter half of the query “circumference”, as in the corresponding field under the search line the user will be presented with a ready calculation formula. Asking “the capital of Australia”, you will not have time to complete the phrase until the end, as Yandex will immediately give out this information in the list of prompts.
If the link to any site is a relevant response to the request, then this address will be available immediately in the same field. This approach will allow you to quickly switch to the desired resource, bypassing the list of all results found.
Content Filtering
The Yandex functionality also provides for the exclusion of 18+ resources from search results, regardless of the means of the query language used. This feature will be useful primarily for protecting minors from “adult materials” on the Web. And even if the child does not hesitate to use all the means that the language of Yandex search queries is rich in action, this still will not help him overcome the barrier from such sites.
In Yandex search for users, there are 3 modes of content filtering :
- “Without protection” - any restrictions on the results are completely absent.
- “Moderate” - if the user’s request is clearly not aimed at searching for “18+” sites, then they are then removed from the search results.
- “Family” - obscene content is completely missing from the search results.
All these protection options against non-child content are controlled in the corresponding Yandex settings menu.
Additional Search Engine Features
In addition to a wide range of different query language operators, Yandex also offers a couple more ways to search for information:
- “Advanced” is a more pleasant service with an intuitive structure for those who need to use the means of the query language. It is enough to enter the necessary parameters into the relevant fields (search by a specific resource, region, accuracy of match with the words of the search query, search by headings, language, document format, date of the last update, etc.) without resorting to less comfortable manual entry of operators . The “advanced search” and the query language of Yandex are one and the same functionality, but with the difference that the former offers the use of the same operators in a more convenient form.
- Zen Search. Based on the history of user searches, Yandex offers the latest media publishing service. Available only for mobile devices and externally represents a set of previews of news, selected according to the browsing history. The user can select any publication he likes, read the first few paragraphs and, if he is interested in it, go to the publisher’s site on this material. Otherwise, just select “Dislike” in order not to display specific news or to mark the entire resource in this way, excluding it from your news feed.
Protection mechanisms against unwanted and malicious information
The main property of any search engine is not only a variety of search query operators. Yandex is also characterized by a high level of security of all the results found. Basic search of pages and warnings about malicious sites in this search engine appeared in 2009. Threat detection is carried out by two technologies:
- Antivirus protection acquired from Sophos and based on the signature approach: when the user accesses a web page, the antivirus system accesses a database containing information about known malware.Despite the high speed of work, such a technology is almost completely useless in the event of a collision with new virus threats. Therefore, Yandex additionally uses the second technology.
- A proprietary antivirus complex based on a behavioral factor. First, when accessing the site, the protection analyzes whether it makes a request from the browser for additional files, redirects it to an extraneous resource, etc. If extraneous actions of the resource are detected without the user's knowledge (launching JavaScript modules, full-fledged programs, cascading style sheets), then it blacklisted dangerous sites and a database of virus signatures. The owner of the site itself will also be notified of these threats, and all subsequent checks will be periodically carried out until all security problems on it are completely eliminated.
A similar approach to the analysis of the provided pages with search results in combination with Yandex’s proprietary technologies made it possible to minimize the percentage of infected sites in this search engine to units. Yandex daily checks cover a total of up to 23 million resources, and in a month this number reaches about 1 billion.