My Way Help

How do I search on My Way?
Searching with My Way is easy. Just type your keyword(s) into the search box on the home page, your personalized My Page, or at the top or bottom of any My Way page. Then click the "Search" button to get instant search results.

My Way lets you choose a primary search provider from four of the Internet's leading search engines: Google, Yahoo!, Ask Jeeves and LookSmart. To change your primary search provider at any time, click the "Search" link in the My Settings box found at the bottom of any My Way page. Once you've chosen your primary search provider, every search box across the My Way site will automatically default to that search provider.

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How many Web sites are in the search engine?
There are over 2 billion Web sites indexed for the My Way search engine, which is powered by Google, Yahoo!, Ask Jeeves and Looksmart.

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How do I report a problem or a bug?
If you encounter an error searching on My Way, please Contact My Way to report the problem. Please let us know what you were searching for, the date and time you searched, and what problem you encountered.

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search functionality questions

Who provides the various search results?
Google, Yahoo!, Ask Jeeves and LookSmart all provide results for the My Way search engine. You can search for and find content in various languages, access news headlines, image files and video records.

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Are there Advanced Search capabilities?
At this point, we are offering Advanced Search capabilities for Google search only.

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What if I want to submit a site, how do I do this?
To submit a site to one of more of our search providers, please click on a link below and follow the simple instructions.

Google
Yahoo!
Ask Jeeves
LookSmart

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Is there filtering available for any of the search results provided?
At this point, we do not filter the various Web, image, video or audio results from any of our search providers. However, we are working to build this functionality on My Way in the near term, so check back for updates!

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google search results

How are the Google search results chosen?
Here's how Google Search works:
PageRank technology: PageRank performs an objective measurement of the importance of Web pages and is calculated by solving an equation of 500 million variables and more than 2 billion terms. Google does not count links; instead PageRank uses the vast link structure of the web as an organizational tool. In essence, Google interprets a link from Page A to Page B as a "vote" by Page A for Page B. Google assesses a page's importance by the "votes" it receives.

Google also analyzes the pages that cast the votes. Votes cast by pages that are themselves "important" weigh more heavily and help to make other pages important. Important, high-quality pages receive a higher PageRank and are ordered or ranked higher in the results. Google's technology uses the collective intelligence of the web to determine a page's importance. Google does not use editors or its own employees to judge a page's importance. Hypertext-Matching Analysis: Unlike conventional search engines, Google is hypertext-based. It analyzes all the content on each Web page and factors in fonts, subdivisions, and the precise positions of all terms on the page. Google also analyzes the content of neighbouring Web pages. All of this data enables Google to return results that are more relevant to user queries.

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How many pages are searched through Google?
Over 2 billion Web sites are indexed for the Google search results pages.

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What types of searches are there for Google?
By clicking on the Google tab on the search page or the search results page, you can search for Web sites or Images, as well as the open directory categories.

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Can I try my search term in other search types from Google on My Way?
By default, My Way searches several types of Web media through Google. You can also search other search types from Google such as: Web pages, Images, and Directory categories.

For example:

You can navigate through these sections by using the search-tab links below the search box. The name of the section you are currently searching will display on a dark-grey tab. You can easily run your search in other sections by clicking the respective search-tab.

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How do I search for Images?
From the main Google Search Results page,
Click the search tab labelled "Images".
Type your query into the search field.
Click the "Search" button.

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How does the Images Results page work?
After you've run your query, My Way will display Google results in a grid of 15 thumbnails (small image files) that match your query, sorted by relevancy. My Way indicates the Filename, Image dimensions (Length x Width) and links to the site of each image.

For example:

Thumbnail: Click the thumbnail image to go to that image's location on the Web.

Filename: In the example above, "madonna". Clicking the image will take you to the information page for that image. There you will see additional information about that image, including links to the page the image was found on, as well as a larger image if it is available.

Image dimensions: Displayed in pixels and in "Length x Width" format.

Tip: Images with larger file sizes will print better, but take longer to download.

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How do the Directory Results work?
By clicking on the tab for "Directory Results", you can search for Web sites within the open directory.

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How do I search the Directory Categories?
By clicking on the Directory Category tab for search results, you can search the open-directory categories. You can drill-down into these categories to find pertinent Web sites to view.

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How do I use the Advanced Search feature?
Advanced Search is a Google-specific feature. To use it, you must first choose Google as your primary Search Provider. Once you have done this, click on the "Advanced search" link under the search box on the My Way home page or on your My Page. You can search using the following options with Advanced Search.

Find results:
•   with all of the words: This will return results that contain all of the words that you specify. Results will only be displayed if they contain every word that you enter into this field.
•   with the exact phrase: You can enter a phrase within this field in order to have results returned that contain that exact phrase as you type it within this field.
•   with at least one of the words: Results will be returned that contain one or more of the words that you specify in this field.
•   without the words: This will return results that do not contain the words that you specify in this field.

Language: Specify which language you would like your results returned in.

File Format: Specify the format of results that you would like returned from the list of options. You can also specify that you would like to exclude results in a specific format by choosing the "Don't" option.

Date: Restrict your results to pages updated within the past three, six, or twelve months.

Occurrences: Specify where your search terms occur on the page - anywhere on the page, in the title, or in the url.

Domains: If you know the website you want to search but aren't sure where the information is located within that site, you can search only that domain by selecting the "Only" option. You can also exclude results from within a specific domain by selecting "Don't" form the list of options in this field.

SafeSearch: Select whether you would like the results filtered through Googles SafeSearch. Googles SafeSearch screens for sites that contain specific types of information and eliminates them from search results.

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Yahoo! search results

How do I interpret the basic Web results?
Each result is listed with the title of the page, a text excerpt that describes the page, and the URL of the page. By clicking on the title, your browser will be re-directed to the web site. On My Way, the Yahoo! results will only list one page from each site.

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Can I try my search term in other search types from Yahoo! on My Way?
By default, My Way searches several types of web media through Yahoo! You can also search other search types from Yahoo! such as: Web pages, News, Pictures, Videos and MP3s.

For example:

You can navigate through these sections by using the search-tab links below the search box. The name of the section you are currently searching will display on a dark-grey tab. You can easily run your search in other sections by clicking the respective search-tab.

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How do I search for MP3s?
From the Yahoo! main search results page on My Way, click the search tab labelled "MP3s". In the search box, type in your query. Then click the "Search" button.

Tip: To get the best results, you should type the name of the artist/band, or the song title - not both.

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How does the MP3 results page work?
After you've run your query, My Way will return you a list of Yahoo! MP3 files that match your query sorted by the reliability of the source. My Way indicates the "Title", "Size", and "Date" of each search result.

For example:

To download a file, click the file icon, or the title of the track.
Title: This is the filename of the MP3. Clicking the title will download the MP3 file.
Date: This indicates the date that the file was last modified.

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Why do I get different results when I use the same query at a later time?
My Way queries Yahoo! which randomly generates different result sets, to prevent overload of any particular server on their end.

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How do I search for Images?
From the Yahoo! main search results page on My Way, click the search tab labelled "IMAGES".
In the search box, type in your query and click the "Search" button.

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How does the Image Results page work?
After you've run your query, My Way will display Yahoo! results in a grid of 15 thumbnails (small image files) that match your query sorted by relevancy. My Way indicates the Filename, Image dimensions (Length x Width) and links to the site of each image.

For example:

Thumbnail: Click the thumbnail image to go to that image's location on the Web.

Filename: In the example above, "madonna". Clicking the image filename will take you to that image's location on the Web.

Image dimensions: Displayed in pixels and in "Length x Width" format.

More info: Click this link to go to that image's location on the Web.

Tip: Images with larger file sizes will print better, but take longer to download.

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What is News search?
For the News search results under the Yahoo! tab on My Way, Yahoo! reaches out to over 7,000 news sources in 35 languages, and offers continuously updated articles from Yahoo! News combined with crawled news sources around the Web.

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How do I search for Videos?
From the Yahoo! main search results page on My Way, click the search link labelled "Videos". In the search box, type one or more keywords that relate to the Video you are looking for. Then click the "Search" button or press Enter.

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How do I use the Video results page?
After you've run your query, My Way will display Yahoo! results sorted by relevancy. My Way indicates the Video Title, Format and links to the site of each video clip.

For example:

Video Title: Click the title of a Video to download it to your computer, or to play the stream.

Format: e.g. AVI, Quicktime, and MPEG. Note that you may need different players to view the different formats.

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ask jeeves search results

How are the Ask Jeeves Search results chosen?
Ask Jeeves delivers its primary search results using Teoma Search technology. Teoma Search technology uses sophisticated algorithms and Subject-Specific Popularity sm data to generate the most relevant and authoritative results on the Web. In some instances, companies pay to have their Web sites included within Teoma's dataset, otherwise known as the Teoma Index. Like all Web sites, these sites are processed through Teoma's search algorithms and are not guaranteed placement in the results. This ensures that relevancy is the primary driver of results.

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How do I use the Web results?
Web results are listed in order of relevance. Each result links to a Web page which has information about the keyword(s) you entered. Simply click on the link to access the Web page.

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looksmart search results

What are LookSmart "Reviewed Web Results"?
Reviewed Web Results are listings that have been evaluated by LookSmart editors. The Reviewed Web Results section of search results includes Web sites selected by LookSmart's professional editorial team, editorially-reviewed paid listings from LookSmart's advertising partners, and non-commercial sites contributed by Zeal community members. All listings are held to the same quality standards, whether they are commercial or non-commercial.

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image searches

How do I save Pictures to my computer?
To save an image, right-click on the image (Macintosh: click and hold) and select "Save image as". Select a folder to save the image to, and click "Save".

Note: Materials are protected by the copyright and trademark laws of the United States and other countries. Therefore, you may need authorization of the owner before you can use any of the referenced materials. You can browse through the search results by clicking the "Next" or "Previous" links for the next or previous pages of thumbnails to view.

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What is the resolution of an image?
The resolution of an image refers to its pixel density; that is, the number of dots per inch that make up the image. Higher resolution pictures print better than low-resolution pictures, but have larger file sizes and thus take longer to download. The sharpness of the image on a display depends on the resolution and the size of the monitor. The same pixel resolution will be sharper on a smaller monitor and will gradually lose sharpness on larger monitors because the same number of pixels are being spread out over a larger number of inches.

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What is MIME type?
Servers insert a MIME header at the beginning of any Web transmission. Your browser uses this header to select an appropriate "player" application for the type of data the header indicates. Some of these players are built into the Web client or browser (for example, all browsers come with GIF and JPEG image players as well as the ability to handle HTML files); other players may need to be downloaded.

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mp3 and audio searches

What is MP3?
MP3 (MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3) is a standard for compressing a sound sequence into a very small file (about one-twelfth the size of the original file) while preserving the original level of sound quality when it is played. Winamp (PC), MacAmp (Mac), and mpg123 (UNIX) are popular MP3 players, but there are many others.

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How long does it take to download?
Download times vary with the speed of your Internet connection. On a 28.8K modem, it can take 20 or 30 minutes to download a three-minute song, while a high-speed connection such as ISDN, DSL, cable, or a T1 line, can download the same song in under a minute.

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Why am I having trouble downloading songs?
Most servers have a limit on the number of users that can connect at any one time. The only solution to this problem is to try again at a later time. My Way in conjunction with Yahoo!, provides a reliability score for each of the MP3 files. This gives you an indication of the reliability of the connection to the computer where the file is stored.

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video searches

How long does it take to download Video files?
The length of time it takes to download a video depends upon your connection speed. Using a dial-up connection (28.8 to 56Kbps) to download a 30-second, 3MB MBEG could take 10 to 15 minutes to download. Cable modems and DSL connections have substantially shorter download times.

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What is streaming media?
Streaming media is audio or video sent in compressed form over the Internet and displayed by the viewer as they arrive. With streaming media, a Web user does not have to wait to download a large file before seeing the Video or hearing the sound. The user needs a player, which is a special program that decompresses and sends Video data to the display and Audio data to speakers. Streaming Media plugins are available for most browsers. Real Network's RealSystem format, Microsoft's Media Player format and Apple's QuickTime all support streaming media. These work better with high-speed connections and in low-traffic hours.

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