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Search Tips

These general search tips apply both to the Article and Image Vault search pages.

To search, enter keywords in the right columns of the search screens and use the filters to limit results to specific categories or dates. You may refine your search results as you go by selecting additional filters or changing your keywords to narrow down results. To reset all filters to their default state, click the Reset button or Clear Search link at the top of the results set.

Use quotation marks to search for exact phrases, such as "gift card" or "Home Depot". You may combine phrases and single keywords. Example article searches:

  • Keywords: "gift card" display
  • Results: Articles containing both "gift card" AND "display" anywhere in the text.
     
  • Keywords: "gift card display"
  • Results: Articles containing the exact phrase "gift card display" anywhere in the text.

You must enter full keywords to retrieve correct results. "Bud" will not return "Budweiser" and "display" will not return "displaying". If your search is yielding too few results, try alternative spellings or synonyms for the terms.

Some retailers have names that also appear as common nouns within text, such as Target. To minimize unrelated search results, try appending Corp. or Inc. on the end of their names and surrounding the full name in quotes. The following retailers all will retrieve better results using this technique:

Entering multiple words returns only items containing ALL those words. If you are getting too many results, try entering another related keyword to narrow down your search. Example image searches:

  • Keyword: Microsoft
  • Image Type: Displays & Signs
  • Results: Images containing "Microsoft" and classified as Displays & Signs
     
  • Keywords: Microsoft Xbox endcap
  • Image Type: Displays & Signs
  • Results: Images containing "Microsoft" AND "Xbox" AND "endcap" AND classified as Displays & Signs

You can view entire categories of content by leaving the keyword field blank and using just the filters. Sample article search:

  • Product Category selected: Beer
  • Retail Channel selected: Convenience Stores
  • Results: Articles classified both as Beer for Product Category and Convenience Stores for Retail Channel.

You may select multiple filters within the same classification option by holding down the Control key on Windows computers or the Command (Apple) key on the Macintosh. Example image search

  • Product Category selected: Beer
  • First Retail Channel selected: Convenience Stores
  • Second Retail Channel selected: Bars & Restaurants
  • Results: Images classified as Beer and EITHER Convenience Stores or Bars & Restaurants.

Selecting multiple filters across different filter options (i.e., Retail Channel and Product Category) means the content must be in ALL categories to be returned. However, selecting multiple filters WITHIN the same filter category will return results in ANY of the selected categories. (In nerdspeak: Different filter categories are linked by logical AND statements, and filters within the same category are linked by logical OR statements.) Example article search:

  • Find articles where keyword = Sony
  • (AND) Marketing Tactic classification = Events
  • (AND) Article Type classification = Field Reports
  • (AND) Retail Channel classification = Electronics/Entertainment
               (OR) Retail Channel classification = Mass Merchants

  • Results: Articles that contain the Sony keyword AND are classified as Events for Marketing Tactic, AND are classified as Field Reports for Article Type, AND that are flagged as EITHER Electronics/Entertainment OR Mass Merchant for Retail Channel.