Results are not what I expected

If a search does not give you what you meant, the page usually shows why. These are the common reasons and what to do about each.

#You ended up on a different tab

When you search from the All tab, 4Search can send the search to News, Shopping or Websites if it thinks that is what you want. For example, a search for a product may open Shopping, and a search about a current subject may open News.

It tells you when it does this. Under the tabs you see a line such as Showing news results for this search. with a link, See all results instead.

1. 1
2. 2

Select See all results instead to run the same search again on the All tab with the automatic choice switched off. Your filters stay as they were. You can also choose any tab yourself, at any time. See Choose a tab.

#You see related stories, not your exact words

By default the match menu is on Title & Body (Meaning), which finds stories close in meaning to your search. That helps when you do not know the exact words, but it can bring up stories that never use your phrase. For exact words, choose a Text option in the match menu.

#The period is not what you chose

The date window starts on Auto, and your search can change it. Time words such as yesterday or last week set the period, and the label shows it, for example Auto (48 hours). If you see stories that are too old or too new, choose a fixed period from the date menu. See No results, or too few results.

#Your operators seem to be ignored

Words such as site:example.com are Google search operators. The Google web results use them. 4Search's own results ignore them and search for the rest of your words, so the two parts of the page can behave differently. See Search operators.

#You are searching inside a topic

A line above the search box that begins Searching: means your search is limited to a topic. Choose All at the top of the topic menu on the left to search the whole site. The search box is cleared when you do, so type your words again.

#The page has two kinds of results

A results page can show 4Search's own results next to web results from Google. They come from different places and are ordered separately. See Google search results and your privacy.

#An AI answer says something wrong

AI answers can be wrong or out of date, and they say so. Check the sources listed with the answer. To report an answer that is wrong, unsafe or misleading, use the Contact page and include the question, the date and a description of what you saw. See How AI answers use your question.

#Common questions

Why did my search open News when I typed it on the All tab?

4Search chose News because the search looked like a news subject, and it said so under the tabs. Select See all results instead, or open the tab you want yourself.

How do I stop 4Search choosing a tab for me?

Start your search on the tab you want, such as Web or News. When it does choose, See all results instead undoes it for that search.

Why do I get stories that do not contain my words?

Meaning matching returns stories close in meaning. Choose a Text option in the match menu for results that contain your words.