Search Engines: Yahoo! Search Direct (previously alltheweb)
Page Revised and updated: 4.25.11

The Yahoo! Search Direct engine (previously known as FAST and alltheweb before it was purchased by Yahoo and merged into its stable of web search tools) offers a database nearly as large as Google's and can sometimes return sites that have not been indexed by the other search engines.

Click here to open Yahoo! Search Direct in a new browser window.

Enter a keyword like insects in the search box. Click the Search button (or hit the enter/return key on your keyboard) to initiate the search.

You will notice that there are several tabs across the top of the screen right above the results. This tabbed results feature which is now a common feature on other search engines was introduced by FAST/alltheweb. Clicking on the News tab returns stories from the alltheweb news database. Clicking on the Images tab opens with results from the image database. Clicking on Video opens with results from the video database.

Notice the Related Searches and Also try: suggestions that appear in multiple locations on the first page of results that appear after you initiate a new search. These suggestions can be very useful in focusing your search on specific topics.

Spend some time exploring the different categories of results offered by the Search Direct search engine. Enter several of your own keywords and phrases and compare the results with what you found on Google and Ask. Are you seeing new results? Remember to add them to your growing collection of Bookmarks/Favorites.

Now, look around the screen and find the Options menu to the right of the Search button. Click on the little down arrow and select Advanced Search to open the advanced search interface.

Look for the Help link (you may have to hunt around a bit as it changes location as you navigate the site) and find the Search Tips page. Be sure that you look for the Help files like this every time you encounter a new search engine since they offer specific information on how to best use the features of the search engine.

Record your comments on this search site in your logbook.

Add relevant resources that you found using this search site to your Bookmarks/Favorites collection.

Next: Other Search Engines