How To Use Search Tools

If you have a specific search related question, please contact our technical support team in your region. A listing is here.

If you would like to schedule specialized search training for your organization, please contact your account manager.

Simple Search

Use Simple Search to search for one or two keywords or a single phrase only. You'll find it at the top of every page on IDC.com and the Insights company web sites. Simple Search allows you to query all available published research on IDC.com, including proceedings from events. Simple Search looks at the whole document plus any document attachments.

As you type in your search query, the search engine will make suggestions, based on other popular search queries. You can select one of the suggestions, or continue to type in your own words.

Searching Tips

Words separated by spaces or commas have "AND" inserted automatically between them. Documents matching your query will have ALL words in them.
The default is to search English. Change to the desired language or Any languages as appropriate.

Examples: "IT Spending" will look for the exact phrase, semiconductor telecom will look for both semiconductor AND telecom

Advanced Search

Use Advanced Search to build complex queries, find special content, define date range or focus your search on specific IDC or Insight company research. You'll also find it at the top of every page on IDC.com and the Insights company web sites. Advanced Search allows you to query all available published research on IDC.com, including proceedings from events. Advanced Search looks at the whole document plus any document attachments.

Using Advanced Search

Use the drop-down menus of All Words, Any Words, Exclude Words, and Exact Phrase for each field into which you enter keywords. This will indicate how you want your keywords to be interpreted by the search engine.
All Words: Keywords are separated by an implicit AND; documents matching your query will have ALL words in them.
Any Words: Keywords are separated by an implicit OR
Exclude Words: Keywords that must NOT be included
Exact Phrase: Keywords are grouped with implicit quotations
Enter your search criteria in the Keywords fields.
Tips for entering keywords:
Spaces, commas, and hyphens are ignored unless they are part of a quote, and then they are treated as text for exact match.
If you use operators in your text (such as the words "AND", "OR", "NOT"), they will be ignored by the search engine and replaced in the query with one appropriate to your selection in the drop down menu (AND in the case of All Words). If you place them within quotes, they are treated as text for exact match (ex: "IBM and HP") will return that exact phrase.
Two text strings encapsulated by quotes are treated as separate matches UNLESS you have selected "exact match"; in that case they will be concatenated into one phrase for the search. If you need to search for two separate exact phrases, you can also use two separate lines in the interface.
Select whether to search the full document or a particular section of the metadata. Full Document is the default selection. Choose from:
- Full Document
- Document Number
- Document Title
- Abstract
- Analyst Name
- Service Name
Select your Date Range options.
The default date range is 12 months. IDC research is available online for only 18 months. Insights company documents are available longer; the duration varies by company.
Select your Filter By options.
You can use the Filters to focus your results by Content Type, Regions or Topics. You can further filter your results on the search results page. In the Filter you want, change the selection from 'Any' to 'Select Specific'. You will then be able to select the specific filters you want, for example, Asia Pacific, under Regions.
Select your Preferences options.
Use these fields to determine how your results will be presented and where you want the search engine to look for your results.
Sort: Sort your results by Relevancy or Date.
Results per Page: Determine the number of results shown per page, e.g.10, 25, 50, or 100. The default is 25.
Language: Select the language in which to search for results. The default is English.
Search Within *: Select the realm in which to search for results, e.g. My Research (only the research that you have purchased) or All Research. The default is All Research.
IDC Company: Select the company in which to search for results. The default is All IDC companies.
Save Preferences *: Click this check box to make the selections in the drop down menus your default choices.
* You must be logged-in to limit the search to My Research or to save search preferences.
Click on the Search button to start your search.

Search Results Page

The search results page has been designed for visibility, flexibility and ease of use.

In the main column, you can change your results by adjusting the Number of Results per Page, change the sort between Relevancy and Date, or if you are logged in, choose to sort in All Research or All My Research. You can also choose to Expand or Collapse the search results information. The default is collapsed.
If you would like to be informed when new research matches these search criteria, click the Create New Alert button to create a Research Alert. (For more information on creating Alerts, click here.)
In the collapsed view, each result shows high level information about the document, including title, author, date, etc. A locked icon indicates you do not have access to that item (or you are not logged in). If the item has an attachment, a paperclip icon will be displayed under the locked or checkbox icon.
To see more information, click the Expand All button, or click the gold icon to the right of the document to expand just that one document. The expanded view includes additional text from the document as well as any available action icons, depending on the document and if you have access to it. Click on the appropriate action icon to Read the full document, download the attachment, purchase the document, etc. Clicking on the document title will open a brief view of the document with additional details.
From the Simple Search results page, you can directly edit your search criteria in the text box and click 'Search' again. From the Advanced Search Result page, you can redefine your search criteria by clicking on 'Update advanced Search'. This pops up a subset of the advanced search page where you can update your Search type, keywords, and search area.
You can refine the current search by using the various Filter menus on the left to quickly focus your results. You can choose to filter your search in the areas of:
- Date
- Companies Covered
- Analyst
- Document Type
- Region
- Topic
- Vertical Market
- IDC Company
Some facets are a straight selection; others are hierarchical and offer additional options. With the hierarchical facets, users can select one or more options at any level of the taxonomy.
As you add filters, they will be displayed at the top, where you can remove them singly, or remove them all.