To begin a powerfully simple Lycos search:

Locate the Search toolbar at the top of http://www.lycos.com.

Type the word or phrase you are looking for into the text-entry box after "Search:"

Click the "Go" button.

After you click the "Go" button, the Lycos software rounds up all the information related to your search word or words and arranges those links on a Search Results Page.

The Search Results Page itself can be a powerful tool for organizing the Web and further refining your search.

Lycos keeps track of all the visible text on every page we find on the Internet. That's a lot of information, so you can improve your searches by being specific. For example, if you're thinking of buying a new computer and looking for suggestions, you'll likely get more than you bargained for if you simply type the word "computer" and click the "Go" button. Instead, you'll find what you're looking for sooner if you phrase your search like this:

computer buying guide

When searching, consider what words you might use to describe a subject if you were a webmaster. Sometimes, subtle differences can have a dramatic impact on your search results. Consider these two examples

computer magazine

and...

computer magazines

Both searches will point you toward websites that list computer magazines on and off the Web. However, the first example (with the word "magazine" singular) will also return many sites devoted to individual publications (like "Computer-Mediated Communication Magazine") near the top of the search results. That might not be what you want. If you're looking for sites that list many computer magazines, the second example will get you there faster. 2. Searching for a Phrase (using " "): You'll often be searching for a word pattern that appears just as you've typed it; examples include full names or phrases. You can tell Lycos to match your word pattern exactly by enclosing it in quotation marks. For example:

"David Hasselhoff"

3. Excluding Certain Words (using -): You wouldn't know it by browsing the Web, but they still publish magazines that have nothing to do with computers. If you wanted to find information on magazines other than those related to computers, Lycos can help you do that. Use the minus (-) command in front of any word to screen out that word:

magazines -computers

4. Requiring Certain Words (using +) The opposite of banning terms from your search results is requiring that certain words show up in the documents Lycos finds. Use the plus sign (+) before a "must-have" word that you want to include:

Baywatch +Hasselhoff

5. Advanced Searches: This is just the beginning of what you can do with Lycos Search. Advanced controls are available through Lycos Advanced Search. You don't have to be a "power user" to use these additional tools, but you'll look like one when you do. You can learn more about Advanced Search by clicking here.

If you are having trouble finding relevant information at Lycos, you may want to explore the powerful features of Lycos Advanced Search. Lycos Advanced Search is a precision tool that helps you get the most out of your Lycos Web search. The Advanced Search provides word filtering, URL and site name searching, and language querying.

Note: If you conduct a typical search from the Lycos frontdoor and would like to take advantage of the Advanced Search features on the Results page, just click the Advanced Search link at any time during your search. Any search parameters that you originally chose are entered automatically into the Advanced Search text boxes.

Once you have typed a query into the primary search field on Lycos Advanced Search, you can further refine your search with these 4 options on Lycos Advanced Search:

Word Filters
The Word Filter feature allows you to narrow your primary search request by filtering. You can either choose "Should Include", "Must Include", or "Must Not Include" within specific parts of a website document, such as Text, Title, URL, or Referring URL.

URL/Site
The URL/Site section allows you to refine your primary search terms to include or exclude any web site from the search catalog. For example, you can exclude spammed listings or offending domains by clicking the "Exclude" radio button and entering the domain in the "Phrase" box.

Language
If you are looking for non-English documents, click the Language tab. With this option you can search all the web for results in a specific language. For example, if you type in le chat and choose the French button, you will only get French documents.

Date
The date section allows you to put limits on the date range of the results you would like returned to you.

The "saved" searches are a feature of Microsoft Internet Explorer called AutoComplete, which saves text entered into your Web browser fields. When you type into one of these fields, AutoComplete suggests possible matches, including Web addresses, search queries, stock quotes, and so on.

You can tailor the AutoComplete feature to save and suggest only the information you want. You can choose whether to use AutoComplete for Web addresses, forms, and passwords, or not use it all. In addition, you can clear the AutoComplete "history" for all options. To do this, follow these instructions:

On the TOOLS menu in Internet Explorer, click INTERNET OPTIONS.
Click the CONTENT tab.
In the PERSONAL INFORMATION area, click AUTOCOMPLETE.
Select the check boxes for the AutoComplete options you want to use.
Please be aware that the AutoComplete feature is not specific to the Lycos site. If you surf the Web with Internet Explorer and AutoComplete is enabled, you will see "saved" searches on many sites.

When you click the "Home" button on your Web browser, you are taken to the site that has been designated as the "home page" in your browser preferences. You can change the default home page whenever you wish. Below are instructions on how to do so.

Netscape Navigator:

Choose Edit - Preferences.
In the Home page section, enter http://www.lycos.com in the Location box.
Click OK.
Microsoft Internet Explorer:
Choose Tools - Internet Options.
Click the General tab.
In the Home page section, enter http://www.lycos.com in the Address box.
Click OK.

Firefox 1.x (or higher)
Click Tools
Click Options
Click the General tab.
Enter the homepage URL into the field provided
Click OK.

Lycos Advanced Search helps you build more powerful searches with tools called Boolean operators that influence how our software evaluates your request. "Boolean" honors George Boole, a 19th-century British mathematician who suggested that logical thought could be expressed as algebra. The examples below will show you how Boolean expressions work and make your searches more refined.

TECH TIP: As you build a search query, keep in mind that Boolean operators such as AND are not case sensitive; we've put them in ALL-CAPS for emphasis. You can use caps or lowercase when you type them in.

Be Specific (AND, OR, NOT)

AND Joining search terms with the AND operator tells Lycos Advanced Search that you want to find documents containing each term. For example, Larry AND Curly AND Moe. But, as you'll see below, AND can be used in conjunction with other operators for more powerful searching. You can also use the "+" sign directly in front of words that you want included in your results. For example, Larry +Curly +Moe.

OR
Use OR when any of the search terms joined by the operator should appear in the results. For example, dogs OR cats. Like AND, OR can be used as a building block of more-complex Boolean expressions.

NOT
Use the NOT operator to exclude unwanted documents when your search uses a term commonly found in connection with an unrelated topic. For example, if you're not in the mood for laughs, you can improve a search for information on the author of The Communist Manifesto by entering Marx NOT Brothers. You can also use "-" sign directly in front of words that you want excluded from your results. For example, "Marx -brothers."

Quotation Marks " "
Put quotation marks around a group of words and you've got a phrase. However, using quoted phrases in conjunction with other Boolean operators offers additional flexibility. Try "Smashing Pumpkins" AND Simpsons to find references to the band's incarnation as cartoon characters alongside Homer and Bart.

If you like to get more specific and granular with your searches, please try the Lycos Advanced Search filters. The filters allow you to apply various boolean operators within a text, title, url, referring url, site and many more.

Here is a specific example using Lycos Advanced Search:

You are searching for web sites regarding the subject "Harry Potter" under the following criteria:

• the word "books" is somewhere in the title

• the word "costumes" must be included somewhere in the text

• the word "candy" must be excluded from anywhere in the text

• the site "amazon.com" is excluded from the search results

You can fill in the criteria within Lycos Advanced Search as shown below and the filters would be automatically translated as such Harry Potter books +costumes -candy -amazon.com

"Sponsored links" and "Featured Lycos Partner" are sections located near the top of the search results page that feature paid links from Lycos partners. At times, you may find additional sponsored links at the bottom of the search results.

Click here to learn about advertising in the "Featured Lycos Partner" section.

Lycos' top priority is to provide the best performance and highest quality of service on the internet. Unfortunately, the internet is full of malicious users that intentionally attempt to degrade the experience of all other users. To ensure superior and consistent performance for our online users, we deny service in response to these malicious requests.

If you have received the "Error 403" page in response to your request, you may be using software that provides an option for preventing the name of your browser from being sent to our servers. We require this name, known as the "user-agent string", in order to effectively service your web browser request.

Examples of software that provides this feature are Norton's Internet Security and Zone Labs' ZoneAlarm Pro. These products provide our users with beneficial security features to protect them from the same sort of malicious behavior that Lycos is subject to. We do not require our users to disable these products in order to use our site, but we do require that all requests transmit User-agent information. If you are using either of these software packages or something similar, please review your documentation to be sure that you are not explicitly preventing the name of your browser (User-agent) from being sent with your request.

If you are currently listed in our People Search results, and would like to be removed, please do one of the following:

Send us a letter, requesting removal from our WhitePages listing. This can be sent to:
Lycos - PeopleSearch Opt-Out
100 Fifth Ave
Waltham, MA 02451

or

via fax, to 781-370-2990

Please include the following information:
Your name
Your address
Your telephone number
The URL to the page where your results reside

Once we receive this information, we will process your request to be removed. Please note that this request can take 2-4 weeks to be processed completely.

Please also include an e-mail address, to which we can send confirmation of removal.