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| compare-stuff.com tips |
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Tip 1: always check the search results (click on the numbers) - unexpected word combinations and meanings are common! |
Tip 2: remember that the results are all relative, a large bar on the chart only means that relatively more web pages were found |
Tip 3: search engines are usually case insensitive - so "US" and the word "us" are the same (try "USA") |
Tip 4: many words mean many things - remember that "Windows" are the things you look out of sometimes (try "Windows 98") |
Tip 5: it's always best to use a single language (not "Any Language") - unless all of the search terms you use are spelled the same in all languages |
Tip 6: remember that most search engines ignore very common words - "The Smiths" can be the same as "Smiths" - so check your results |
Tip 7: use the global search term(s) to avoid ambiguity - for example add "pop music" when comparing "Madonna" and "Prince" |
Tip 8: try adding "opinion" to your global search terms if you want peoples' opinions (people love to say "in my opinion...") |
Tip 9: it's not really possible to compare-stuff when words aren't specific enough for your intended meaning - for example, the airline/movie/board game "Go" |
Tip 10: remember to turn off auto-quote if you don't want everything you type treated as phrases |
Tip 11: try different comparison terms - with similar and opposite meanings - do the results make sense? |
Tip 12: avoid comparison terms which can be easily negated - 6% of web pages with "very good" actually say "not very good" |
Tip 13: use exaggerated comparison terms - they are less commonly negated - less than 1% of web pages with "fantastic" actually say "not fantastic" |
Tip 14: don't forget cultural differences in word usage - you can't use the comparison term "gas guzzler" to compare American and European cars |
Tip 15: place names can be problematic - there is definitely more than one "Cambridge" - and around 10% of "Cambridge" pages actually contain "Cambridge University Press" |
Tip 16: use the mutually exclude option if you commonly see more than one of your "things" in the same web document (like "Coca-cola" and "Pepsi") |
Tip 17: don't forget to read the disclaimer - compare-stuff.com only gives you a rough idea of what the web "thinks", don't take it too seriously |