Virus Scan for iMetaSearch Pro

Tazzie "2 installations per footprint" .... why so limited? What about computer crashes, or doing needed reformats on the same computer?

Feb 19 2011 at 2:05pm Copy Link

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S B In using iMetaSearch,

1) will Google and other search engines have persistent cookies that can reference my searches? If so, can these cookies be cleared between searches and refinements?

2) Does Puffinware know about any of my searches or refinements to searches?

3) How anonymous can my searches, refinements, and results be?

IMetaSearch looks very promising.

Thanks!

Feb 19 2011 at 3:12pm Copy Link

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Charles Paulson 2 installations are so that you can put it on a desktop and laptop at the same time. If your computer crashes or you need to reformat, just let us know and we'll be happy to give you more activations.

Puffinware LLC - Feb 19 2011 at 3:51pm Copy Link

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Charles Paulson iMetaSearch does not supply or accept cookies, so there are no persistent cookies involved in its searches. At Puffinware, we do not know about the content of any searches, refinements, or results.

We do get an email on the very first click of the search button after installation to record how many new installations there are, but it does not and never will contain any information about the search being done. All subsequent searches are completely unknown to us.

Puffinware LLC - Feb 19 2011 at 4:03pm Copy Link

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S B iMetaSearch seems at first blush like an ideal web search adjunct and assistant.

It categorizes the results from Google results and adds its own ranking. What's more, you can mark a result ("this is the kind of thing I'd like"), and iMetaSearch recalculates its rankings. If you further mark other results ("these are the kinds of things I'd *really* like to see"), iMetaSearch refines and recalculates its results further!

Quite importantly, it looks well beyond the first pages of search-engine results, waaaay back to things you'd never get to.

So far it seems enormously powerful for finding specific things, finding and categorizing variations or nuances, essential for efficient research, and even good for "surfing" and trawling.

I've already found some interesting variations I'd have missed.

Feb 19 2011 at 5:05pm Copy Link

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Daniel Walker Can we filter -out- sales and advertising from our results?

Feb 19 2011 at 5:15pm Copy Link

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Charles Paulson This happens naturally because by marking the results you like, similar ones get sorted to the top and results that you don't mark (for example the sales and advertising ones) will be sorted towards the bottom.

Puffinware LLC - Feb 19 2011 at 5:36pm Copy Link

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Brian De Bragança Is there any way to increase the font sizes? All panes (except the 'Selected Result Summary') are almost unreadable.

Otherwise, is there any way to search the URLS in the result pane? (I know that column can be sorted, but that's not much help when you can't read the results).

Feb 19 2011 at 7:16pm Copy Link

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Brian De Bragança Can you use Boolean operators in the search query, as with Google and Bing? If so, which ones?

Feb 19 2011 at 7:19pm Copy Link

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Michael R. When starting the trial (or better said the free) edition, I get at once a '... is no valid floating point number' and sometimes a 'Grid index is out of range'. I suppose the first one comes up, because I have a german version of win7, x64. When having used Delphi as compiler I remember something like that floating-point message appeared sometimes, because some countries use '.' and some ',' as decimal-point.

I suppose these are minor issues. I always was able to continue and got want I wanted.

Is it possible in the offered (pro) version, to define something like profiles. E.g. one profile could be used, if I wanted to buy something and so am interesed at ads. The other would be used, if I am looking for informatioin (and no ads). So before starting the search I would just choose the appropriate profile and than start.

Also I would appreciate the option, that the last search result was not displayed automatically when restarting iMetaSearch.

Again, having played around some short time (and not having gone too deep in the features yet), I was quite content with the results I got.

Feb 19 2011 at 8:06pm Copy Link

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Henrik Safegaard Michale R.
'Grid index is out of range' appear on my version to, BUT only when i hit the enter or return button,-

If i just push the search button with my mouse it work fine every time.

Feb 19 2011 at 11:35pm Copy Link

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Bo He I have the same problem with the floating point number with the same system config: german version of win7, x64 I would buy the tool, but I don't know if that issue will come up at other function also.

please give me feedback

Feb 20 2011 at 12:47am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson Brian,

The font sizes cannot be increased in this version. I will put it down as a great suggestion for the next version. As a work around, you may be able to increase the system font size.

The URLs in the Results list also appear in the Words list. To see them move the Words slider all the the right ( to see all words, even those that occur only one time) and choose Words Filter for Websites from the menu bar.

Also, the query string from the text box in the upper left corner is passed intact to the search engines. So for example if you're using Google you can use booleans, etc.

Puffinware LLC - Feb 20 2011 at 1:16am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson Michael R and Bo He,

The idea of profiles, and having the option of not showing the last search are good ones and I will put them down on our list of features to consider for the next version.

As to the minor issues you point out, I have not used the German version of Win 7, x64 but we will work on sending out an update to the floating point bug. Just click the Search button instead of using rhe Enter key to avoid the 'Grid index', but we will work on this one too and send out an update.

Puffinware LLC - Feb 20 2011 at 1:22am Copy Link

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Louis H Very nice app. Exactly the kind of app I have been looking for.

Like the suggestions made for future versions, but willing to live without them for now.

Thank you Puffinware and BDJ for another great offer!

Feb 20 2011 at 4:25am Copy Link

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Ennovy I like iMetaSearch and after a short trial I bought it ;)

I would like iMetaSearch to remember the window settings.
Now, everytime when I restart the software I have to change them again in the way I like.

When I delete searches I would like that they are also removed from the File menu.

When upgraded to the Pro version, can you remove the menu item "Upgrade to Pro"

I would like an option to change the data folder.

Great software, documentation and the videos are very helpfull.

Regards,
Peter Lievers

Feb 20 2011 at 4:36am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson Thanks very much for all the kind comments. We are writing down all your suggestions and will put as many into the next version as we can. Your support is very much appreciated.

Puffinware LLC - Feb 20 2011 at 4:49am Copy Link

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Frank Stephens While I don't doubt that iMetaSearch Pro has added value, it always bothers me when people are oblivious to the features of the tools which they're already using. Google (and probably Bing) already remember things about previous searches. They can use cookies to do this, but Google does this best if you're signed into Google, in which case it will remember your search history and use it in your results, as well as allowing you to bookmark (star) results. It has various tools such as Advanced search, Date ranges, Blogs, Realtime, the Wonder wheel, Related searches, Timeline, Visited pages, Social, Nearby, etc. You should check out Basic search help, Advanced search tips, and Time-saving search shortcuts. Google Labs always has interesting and useful things, note that a number of the ideas have graduated.

Feb 20 2011 at 7:39am Copy Link

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Mary Wilson I loaded the program and went to try it out. No matter what I put in, I receve an error and it says "grid index out of range". Is this suppose to act like this?

Feb 20 2011 at 7:58am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson Mary,

Try clicking the search button after typing your search term, instead of pressing the Enter key. We are working on an update for this bug.

Puffinware LLC - Feb 20 2011 at 8:22am Copy Link

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H M there are limited choices for engines. can I add my own such as ixquick? can I sort results based on dates so I can tell what items are new?

Feb 20 2011 at 8:24am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson Frank,

Google does a great job on quick searches and there's a load of options available. I would like to point out 2 major strengths that iMetaSearch has.

1) Most people see 10 results/page on Google but your result might be buried on the 70th page or later. iMetaSearch Pro can get all the results that Google offers in one search.

2) Once you get all these results, you have to scan through Google's results one page at a time looking for relevant results. With iMetaSearch, just mark relevant results and all results are re-sorted to bring other similar results to the top. It can save a lot of time searching.

Puffinware LLC - Feb 20 2011 at 8:31am Copy Link

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Mary Wilson Thank you for the information. It worked fine and I used it to test out some information I was researching for a class for school. It worked great and I found a great new web sight for my school work. I will have to get it as it will make researching for school so much easier.

Feb 20 2011 at 8:39am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson H M,

The Date column in Results is the date the results were downloaded. So if you do a File Update Search then the new results will have a newer date. You can then sort on Date tell which results are new.

We used to have a menu item for adding new engines, but took it out because no one was using it and some search engines have security based on cookies or other things so it got complicated. I'll put it on the list of possible features and we'll look at it again.

Puffinware LLC - Feb 20 2011 at 9:43am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson Mary,

I'm glad that worked and good luck in your future searches.

Puffinware LLC - Feb 20 2011 at 9:43am Copy Link

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Louis H Frank, I am indeed aware of the advanced features available to me in Google. My approach, however, to any App is - does it make my work, thus my life, easier. I can narrow the choices down to what I am actually looking for, a lot faster, with IMetaSearch than I can with Google. (and was able to do so, intuitively, from the moment I started the free version of this App) And I do not have to be logged into Google to do so. That is definitely worth $24 to me.

I could of probably stayed with the free version, but wanted the access to additional search engines and more than a hundred results returned for each search. Most of all I wanted to support the development of improved and more advanced versions in the future. I like supporting smaller. more independent vendors and developers when they offer an App that saves time and makes my life easier.

Google is good. IMetaSearch makes it even better!

Feb 20 2011 at 9:51am Copy Link

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Paul Bacon I started using this earlier today tring different searches. It stopped working after about one hour and now all i get with any search is Grid index out of range ( I am clicking the search button and not pressing enter) this is the free trial version

Feb 21 2011 at 3:59am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson Paul,

If you are clicking the Search button (and not pressing Enter) then the Grid index out of range usually means iMetaSearch cannot find any search results. Here are a couple of things to try.

1) Start up a browser on the same computer and see if you can search Google manually. If that does not work, then iMetaSearch will have problems also. It could be an internet connection problem, or if you do too many searches in too short a time Google may cut you off for a short time.

2) If the browser works, then try restarting iMetaSearch, do a search on something, and then send me the latest Google-n.fix file (for example Google-1.fix) that will be in the Data folder. You can find the Data folder by looking at Help About. Send it to support

puffinwarellc.com and I will try to find out what's happening.

Thanks for using iMetaSearch and I hope we can resolve the problem you're having.

Puffinware LLC - Feb 21 2011 at 6:04am Copy Link

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Brian De Bragança Charles,

this iMetaSearch 'Users Group' that one is invited to join after purchasing the software, and which resides on an 'advertising email' domain different to your own ...

what is the nature of the "information" you send out? Full details, please.

Feb 21 2011 at 8:30am Copy Link

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Louis H Charles can answer for himself, but as a user of the software I checked up on this myself...

You can read about their privacy policies at...

http://www.aweber.com/privacy.htm

Specifically...

"I Am A Subscriber To An Email List Managed Using AWeber."

Your email address, name and any other information you generate are held in strict confidence. We only keep your information so that the customer whose email list you signed up to can email you.

We do not contact you. We do not sell or share your information with anyone else.

*******

They also clarify how they use cookies on that page as well.

They also have an anti-Spam policy you can read about at....

http://www.aweber.com/antispam.htm

But now that I read your comments again, you may be looking for this info instead..

http://www.puffinwarellc....le/32.html

Of concern to me is the following.....

"we may use your information to let you know about other products and services that may interest you."

Charles? I would prefer to NOT get ANY info from anyone other than you. And that info to only concern IMetaSearch. Is that an option?

thanks

Hope that helps until Charles can respond.

Feb 21 2011 at 9:13am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson We are collecting email information to let people know about new products we develop, new versions of our existing products, and occasional emails about the technology behind our products.

We will not send any emails out about any products that we have not developed. I will revise the privacy notice to make that clearer.

We use aweber to handle our email lists because they have a great reputation and they have strict standards for people signing up and removing themselves from email lists. They handle the email list but never do anything with it unless we ask them to.

Hope that helps, let me know if you have other questions.

Puffinware LLC - Feb 21 2011 at 10:19am Copy Link

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Louis H Thank you, Charles!

Feb 21 2011 at 1:34pm Copy Link

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Paul Bacon Charles I assume I did too many searhes road testing yesterday and google Cut me off - Working fine again this am
thanks for the support

Feb 21 2011 at 10:58pm Copy Link

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Charles Paulson Glad to hear the problem is solved.

Puffinware LLC - Feb 22 2011 at 2:47am Copy Link

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_*_ Hello, I read on your site the free version uses Google search engine and the Pro version uses 12 engines including Google.

Since I am new to this software, I am not sure what that means in detail.

I try to stay away from anything Google, so if I am using their search engine in this program are they receiving information from me about my searches?

Will the program still be very useful if I turn off Google's engine(s) in the program? It appears to be the main way the searches are accomplished.

I am sure there is something I just do not understand, but wanted to express my thoughts and concern.

Thanks

Oct 17 2011 at 3:39am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson Since iMetaSearch runs on your computer, Google could keep information about your searches based on your IP address or other information. There are 2 ways around this.

One, as you point out, is to turn off the Google search engine and just run without it. This works, but you may miss results.

A second way is to follow this suggestion http://www.puffinwarellc....1&topic=17 and use a free download called UltraSurf with the proxy feature of iMetaSearch to protect your online privacy. This way lets you get Google results but also maintain your privacy.

Puffinware LLC - Oct 17 2011 at 6:42am Copy Link

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Michael R. Hello Charles Paulson,

at 19th Feb I wrote a comment describing a bug of iMetaSearch occuring on german computers (and some other foreign-language computers probably too). Please see above under 'old comments'. You said this will be fixed with the next update. Unfortuately there wasn't any update of iMetaSearch since than. It's no real big deal, but annoying and fixing it would be probably really not a big thing...

I'm also curious, what's on your feature-list for an update/upgrade (and if my profile-proposal is on it) and when a new version can be expected...

Oct 19 2011 at 12:21am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson Hi Michael,

We did release a new version of iMetaSearch (version 5) at the beginning of September. You can read about the features that are in the new version at http://www.puffinwarellc....eased.html

If the bug you mentioned still occurs with this new version, please let us know so we can fix it. Your profile proposal is not in the new version but is still on the list of features being considered for future versions.

Puffinware LLC - Oct 19 2011 at 7:49am Copy Link

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Jerry S Demo is interesting. GUI needs some substantial tweaking. In for one. Thanks for bringing this to us on BitsDuJour.

Oct 20 2011 at 12:15am Copy Link

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Joss The app doesn't works with any non English language (in the input field and results too). Very negative impression.

Oct 20 2011 at 3:31am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson iMetaSearch does some substantial language processing specific to English that include using stop lists (words that are mostly noise such as the, and, of, etc) and identifying names.

Once the pre-processing has been done, it uses a method called SVD to identify clusters of results as described in http://www.puffinwarellc....orial.html

Because of this extensive language-specific processing, it really doesn't make sense to use it with another language.

Puffinware LLC - Oct 20 2011 at 4:49am Copy Link

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Emil Kucera Hi, my desktop and laptop, they are never used simultaneously unless networked for synching. Reading the policy, it seems I can only install IMS on one or the other, which would kind of cramp its usefulness to me. Would I actually need separate licences (or install only on one)?

Oct 20 2011 at 7:37am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson Hi Emil,
You can install iMetaSearch on both your desktop and laptop at the same time with one license. You are allowed to install on two machines of your choice which could be a desktop and laptop, two laptops, a computer at work and one at home, etc.

Puffinware LLC - Oct 20 2011 at 7:48am Copy Link

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Emil Kucera @Charles
Perfect. I just paid now :-)
Thanks and regards Emil

Oct 20 2011 at 10:29am Copy Link

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Tore Hoyem "..You are allowed to install on two machines of your choice.."

How do you handle moving a license away from one of the two, to a new 3rd machine?

Oct 20 2011 at 10:45am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson If you need to move to another machine or you have to re-install due to a disk crash or something, just let us know and we'll be happy to add more activations to your upgrade key.

Puffinware LLC - Oct 20 2011 at 11:05am Copy Link

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Glen Hilton Hello Charles, its good to see some active involvement by you in regard to BDJ comments and user feedback. I noticed a few of the V4 issues appear to have been resolved in V5 + some good improvements inc HTML export.. This looks like a worthwhile app and I'm happy to support active developers with good ideas and those wiling to take on board suggestions from registered users. I do have reservations about the trend towards on-line activations, In many cases the programs are only of use on a particular machine whilst the developers are still in business.

Oct 20 2011 at 6:05pm Copy Link

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Charles Paulson Thanks Glen for your kind comments and for your support. We've been working to improve iMetaSearch through the years based on suggestions from our users.

Puffinware LLC - Oct 20 2011 at 7:34pm Copy Link

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Amit What are the other 11 search engines - Google + 11 other search engines ?

And can we add our own custom search engines + MAINLY our own search urls - like eg. http://www.softpedia.com/...term=addon ?

Sep 30 2012 at 1:31am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson If you download the free version of iMetaSearch and click on Engines Choose Engines you can see all of the engines.

They are in 3 categories Academic (arxiv, CiteSeer, GoogleBook, GoogleScholar), General (AllTheWeb, Google, MSBing,Yahoo), and News & Comments (GoogleBlog, GoogleGroup, GoogleNews, IceRocket).

In the current version you cannot add your own search engines but that is on the list to consider for future versions.

Puffinware LLC - Oct 1 2012 at 9:11am Copy Link

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Richard Paris Just installed iMetaSearch on Windows7 SP1 x64 and it immediately crashes with Runtime error at 0041EFC1.

Oct 1 2012 at 8:26pm Copy Link

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Charles Paulson Sorry about this problem. It should ask to send a bug report, so let it do that. Also, if you email me at suppport

puffinwarellc.com we can work on solving the problem. We've had iMetaSearch running on thousands of windows machines, including Windows 7.

Puffinware LLC - Oct 2 2012 at 8:50am Copy Link

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Lupke Brother The trial version here on BDJ is an old version (v4).

Download v5 here: www.puffinwarellc.com/iMetaSearch500.exe

Oct 3 2012 at 12:32am Copy Link

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Peter B. Licensed per computer. But I can't buy two licenses (laptop and desktop) together with a volume discount. Just one license per buy and I have to buy it twice through Paypal. :-B

Oct 3 2012 at 12:44am Copy Link

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Joss Don't work with Russian queries.

Oct 3 2012 at 2:18am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson iMetaSearch500.exe is the most recent version as indicated above. We are considering unicode support for the next version, but it currently works just in English.

Also, you can install iMetaSearch on two different computers (for example on desktop and laptop) with one purchase. Just use the emailed upgrade key on each computer separately.

Puffinware LLC - Oct 3 2012 at 4:57am Copy Link

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D Rex Why are all of my URL's displaying as 'google.com'. Is this a limitation in the demo version. In the video, the URL shows the actual location of the site. I often pick results to view based on my experience with a site, so knowing where the link points to is important.

Oct 3 2012 at 7:18am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson In the result summary area, just above the Search Results area, you can see the URL of the site. Just click the result in the Search Results area and look in the summary area above to see it.

Puffinware LLC - Oct 3 2012 at 7:58am Copy Link

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Mark Lynam For what it's worth....
I've purchased three licenses of iMetaSearch Pro for each of my computers a little less than a year ago. It's a *very handy* piece of software! I work in higher education and iMetaSearch allows me to have a simple interface from which to run, refine, and save various searches. It seems to do a fine job of separating the wheat from the chaff. I'd recommend giving it a whirl and at 50% off--that should help make the buy/no buy decision a bit easier.

Oct 3 2012 at 8:12am Copy Link

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D Rex So you are saying that even the pro version does not show the actural URL in the URL column like it appears in the video. To decide which hits I want to look at first, I have to click individually on say the first 10 items on the list to see the URL in a separate window so I can see which ones are from sites I prefer to use and then remember which ones those are and go back to click on their link. This seems very inefficient for program that is intended to help one get to the results they want more quickly. When searching for information, there are sites I respect, sites I have paid subscriptions to, sites I avoid because I don't have a subscription, and sites I know are pretty worthless or hard to use. The video demo was very impressive. The actual program, less so.

Oct 3 2012 at 8:22am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson Sorry, I should have answered this more clearly before. The URL column is designed to show the URL of the site. Recently Google changed the way they incorporate URLs into search results. It used to be clicking would go directly to the site, now it goes through Google first and then to the site URL embedded in the parameters. This means that parsing the URL gets google.com now, whereas it used to get the site URL. Fixing this is an important to do item in the next update.

Puffinware LLC - Oct 3 2012 at 8:50am Copy Link

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D Rex Thank you, I like that answer much better. Any idea when the next update will be released? I assume you can't say exactly, but are we talking weeks, months or years? Thanks again for the response.

Oct 3 2012 at 9:05am Copy Link

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Harald Vogel Thanks for the offer. I just bought a copy. But as I'm from Germany is there a way to change google.com to google.de. I also see now that the program has a problem with not showing German Umlauts so "Bürger" is only shown as "Brger". This is kind of irritating.

And finally - is there a way or planned to exclude / hide search results / groups / extracted words so that instead only to mark results that fit I can filter out the search results that don't fit. I already saw that I can filter words but that has no effect on the search result.

Oct 3 2012 at 9:47am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson The next update will be on the order of months, but the exact date is unknown right now.

On the next point, about changing google.com to google.de there is a possible way. Send me email using Help About asking how to modify the google,eng file. The umlaut problem is related the unicode support issue I mentioned earlier. Finally, the idea of hiding documents and words is another good idea to add to the list of improvemets.

Puffinware LLC - Oct 3 2012 at 11:03am Copy Link

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Kelly Major I just started a trial of this software and I was coming here to ask about displaying the actual URL. I see others have beat me to it.

Just to clarify the fact that it is not displaying the URLs is a temporary situation due to Google changing the layout of it's search results. That happens from time to time and I would expect a rapid software update when this happens. Will that be the case?

If I were trailing the Pro version then I would have seen URLs for all of the other search providers except Google?

I'm asking because I have no interest in the software without it displaying the URLs nor would I want to purchase it and find long wait times between search provider changes are corresponding software updates to accommodate those changes by displaying the URL.

Can you say with a reasonable degree of accuracy how soon you will have an update that displays the URLs again? I think that answer will address my concerns. In the mean time I will research when the Google result format last changed to gauge what kind of response time to expect on this issue.

Thanks! - KEM

Oct 3 2012 at 1:07pm Copy Link

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Mark Johnson Versions 2, 3, and 4 of this product were released in 2009. Version 5 was released over a year ago. Am I reading the above correct that a fix for the problem of the URL column not displaying the URL is not expected for several more months?

Oct 3 2012 at 1:23pm Copy Link

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Charles Paulson I'm going to give the URL fix a high priority for the next version. To be safe, we say on the order of months. We'll try to get it done before that, but I cannot promise it right now.

Puffinware LLC - Oct 3 2012 at 1:35pm Copy Link

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disenchanted I can always use a good search app so I purchased this morning.

I downloaded and went to install. After every installation finished and i clicked on the shortcut, I got an error message about the executable not being found.???

Come to find out I noticed my webroot internet security suite had something quarantinned and had kept popping up with alerts.

Webroot spysweeper was detecting this exe as a malware executable and was quarantinning it.

After I overrode the webroot detection settings for this one program and restored the application, my shortcut worked fine.

Why is this software being detected as malware and/or a trojan?

Oct 3 2012 at 1:40pm Copy Link

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Charles Paulson The URL fix is a high priority for us. To be on the safe side, we would estimate on the order of months. However we will try to fix it as soon as we can, but I cannot promise a specific time right now.

Puffinware LLC - Oct 3 2012 at 1:41pm Copy Link

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Charles Paulson iMetaSearch started life many years ago and at that time Windows was a lot simpler. You just put your app into c:\program files\xxx and you could read/write into that folder without problems. Nowadays, Windows a lot stricter and we try to follow all the rules.

However there are numerous 3rd party checkers and I don't know what rules they are following. What I can say is that iMetaSearch only puts files into C:\Program Files (x86)\iMetaSearch5 folder (or whatever you specify at installation) and into the Data Folder which on my system is c:\Users\Public\Documents\iMetaSearch5. It doesn't put anything in registries or into the system folders, for example.

It's also passed numerous tests from the various download sites such as download.com, tucows.com, softonic.,com, etc. So I guess the short answer is I don't know why it was flagged by your software but there is nothing bad in it.

Puffinware LLC - Oct 3 2012 at 1:56pm Copy Link

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Kelly Major OK, thanks for your reply. I will schedule a re-evaluation in months.

- KEM

Oct 3 2012 at 1:56pm Copy Link

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John Killeen I have purchased iMetaSearch, but to reinforce what others have said, fixing the Google URL issue is vital to the program's usefulness. I'm not a programmer, but this does seem a trivial fix, and users should not need to wait months for a new full version. You should strongly consider an interim release just for the URL fix.

Oct 3 2012 at 4:26pm Copy Link

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Charles Paulson Thanks for buying iMetaSearch. As I have said, we will try to fix it as soon as we can.

Puffinware LLC - Oct 3 2012 at 7:41pm Copy Link

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Jerry S I'd forgotten that I purchased this product in 2011. Without the actual URL being displayed, it is very difficult to use. Rectifying this should be an immediate priority for the developer.

Oct 3 2012 at 11:02pm Copy Link

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M M No deal as of now, but I am also looking forward to the fix of URL issue, and unicode support.

Oct 3 2012 at 11:59pm Copy Link

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Charles Paulson Thanks everyone! We'll be working on the URL issue.

Puffinware LLC - Oct 4 2012 at 10:21am Copy Link

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umike Is the iMetaSearch Pro the same as Keyword Tool Winner? Your youtube video shows the same user interface for both software.

Mar 22 2013 at 8:59pm Copy Link

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John Killeen When iMetaSearch was last on BdJ (October last year), you said that fixing the Google URL issue was a high priority. The current version (5.02) still shows all URLs returned by Google as "google.com".

Mar 24 2013 at 8:12am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson Keyword Tool Winnner resulted from a partnership with another company. It was based on an earlier version of iMetaSearch and was a failed attempt to branch out into the keyword selection software business.

I have updated version 5.02 to fix the Google URL issue that came up during the last BdJ promotion. Try downloading the free version from www.PuffinwareLLC.com/iMetaSearch502.exe and test it yourself.

Puffinware LLC - Mar 24 2013 at 11:42am Copy Link

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John Killeen Google URL issue: Thank you for the link. That does solve the problem. Odd, though -- I had updated to 5.02 within the program (Help - Check for Updates) and that update still had the URL issue...

Mar 24 2013 at 12:08pm Copy Link

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Charles Paulson That update had some errors and I have removed it till they get fixed. Use the link above to get the fixed 5.02 version.

Puffinware LLC - Mar 24 2013 at 1:13pm Copy Link

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Cyrus Is this compatible with Windows 8?

Mar 24 2013 at 11:00pm Copy Link

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H. H. Hallo,
I´m a buyer of version 4, but have to say that I stopped using the software because the difficulties with german language /google.de and the missing of ability to add own search engines.

1.what´s the current development status of adding own search engines?
I found these answers from your company reading old comments at bdj

"We used to have a menu item for adding new engines, but took it out because no one was using it and some search engines have security based on cookies or other things so it got complicated. I'll put it on the list of possible features and we'll look at it again.
Puffinware LLC Vendor - Feb 20 2011 at 9:43am

In the current version you cannot add your own search engines but that is on the list to consider for future versions.
Puffinware LLC Vendor - Oct 1 2012 at 9:11am"

2. The hardware footprinted online activation with only 2 activations - even at the same machine - can be a great dealbreaker. Perhaps you may consider, what the "just mail to us" means if you have approximaately 80+ programs which need such a procedure - if you´ve ever had a need of reinstalling a complete system under these conditions a software must be really unique and extremely useful, if you still consider buying.

H.H.

Mar 25 2013 at 2:13am Copy Link

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Northwoods Charles,

I installed the above 5.02 update a few minutes ago. The only search engine I can choose is Google, and I can't change the number of results. It's set at 20. Any idea on what I need to change to allow me to make changes to the search engine selection and number of results?

Mar 25 2013 at 4:08am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson Cyrus - iMetaSearch is compatible with Windows 8.

H. H. - In the current version, v5.02, you cannot add your own search engines, but are still considering it for future versions. There are many software vendors that use an activation key to unlock software. I am happy to help with any support issues people may have.

Northwoods - you have downloaded the free version of iMetaSearch. In order to get more results and search engines, you need to purchase an upgrade key. You can do this now from Bits du Jour at half price, $23.50, instead of the normal $47.00. Once you have the key, just click on Help Upgrade and follow the instructions.

Puffinware LLC - Mar 25 2013 at 5:51am Copy Link

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Northwoods I have the registered version. The About tab shows my serial number. Any other ideas?

Mar 25 2013 at 6:00am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson Northwoods - the serial number and the upgrade key are two different things. Look at Help About and see whether the Status line says Free or Pro. The Free version is limited to Google and 20 results. The Pro version has the other engines and no limit on results.

Puffinware LLC - Mar 25 2013 at 6:38am Copy Link

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Northwoods The Status is Pro.

Mar 25 2013 at 6:40am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson Can you send me your upgrade key at support

puffinwarellc.com so I can see what's going on offline and get this issue fixed? Thanks.

Puffinware LLC - Mar 25 2013 at 6:54am Copy Link

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Northwoods Thanks for the email, and resolving my issue. Everything is working great!

Bob

Mar 25 2013 at 9:13am Copy Link

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Stephen Sieloff can we save search results to spreadsheet or excel/csv file?

Mar 25 2013 at 11:19am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson Yes, to save the search results click on Results - Save Results as CSV File. You will be prompted for a file name and then asked if you want to see the results.

To save the extracted words and phrases click the Words - Export Words as CSV File. Words can be useful for keyword research or for ideas on further search terms.

Puffinware LLC - Mar 25 2013 at 11:33am Copy Link

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M M Do I understand correctly that you do NOT distinguish upgrades (to next major version) and updates (to next minor version), so any new version after 12 months requires a payment?
Also, what is the status of Unicode support that was asked about last time?

Mar 25 2013 at 4:52pm Copy Link

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Charles Paulson M M - yes, our policy is that upgrades are free for the 12 months and 50% off after that. Unicode support is on the list of features to consider for future versions.

Puffinware LLC - Mar 25 2013 at 6:47pm Copy Link

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Emil Kucera Thanks for the update link, I had the same problem as John Killeen, and same fiz applied here.

Mar 25 2013 at 6:50pm Copy Link

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lisba f On how many computers can one user install and use this program?

Mar 26 2013 at 5:12am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson You can use it on 2 different computers, for example a desktop and a laptop at the same time.

Puffinware LLC - Mar 26 2013 at 5:45am Copy Link

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lisba f Well, then, why on my second laptop, going to Help / Upgrade and entering my upgrade key it says: 'The key is already registered'? and just stays in free edition?

Mar 26 2013 at 5:56am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson Send me your upgrade key at support

puffinwarellc.com and I will see what is happening and fix it.

Puffinware LLC - Mar 26 2013 at 7:26am Copy Link

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Zoran Paljevic Increasing to 2000 search results will lead you getting blocked by Google, what's some ordinary "red line" to keep?

Mar 26 2013 at 7:29am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson There are a couple of considerations here. One is that google has a upper limit on results returned which I think is 1000 so it makes no sense to go over that. Second is to moderate searches so you're not doing lots of them in a row non-stop.

Puffinware LLC - Mar 26 2013 at 7:38am Copy Link

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Petr Which search engines does your product use?

Mar 26 2013 at 8:43am Copy Link

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Charles Paulson There are 12 engines divided into 3 classes (academic, general, and news & comments). Academic engines are arxiv, CiteSeerx, GoogleBook, GoogleScholar. General ones are AllTheWeb, Google, Bing, and Yahoo. News & Comments are GoogleBlog, GoogleGroup, GoogleNews, and IceRocket.

Puffinware LLC - Mar 26 2013 at 9:51am Copy Link

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Stephen Warkentien Can the browser be changed to Chrome, Firefox, etc?

Mar 26 2013 at 4:50pm Copy Link

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Charles Paulson The browser is whatever your default is when you open *.htm files. It's determined by operating system settings, not by iMetaSearch.

Puffinware LLC - Mar 26 2013 at 4:53pm Copy Link

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Chris I purchased this awhile back and had to reinstall my OS and after I reinstalled the program I tried to enter my key and it tells me the key has already been registered, so it won't register the program.

I contacted the DEV a week ago via their support email and they have not responded to my email. I just sent them a second email asking again for my key to be reset.
I hope they respond to this email.

As of now I do not recommend this program since it seems the customer support does not exist.

Sep 7 2013 at 12:36am Copy Link

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Chris I am posting this instead of editing because I want the Admin to see it as well.

I have sent 2 emails to them and they have not opened them, read them, or replied to them.

1st email on 9/1/13 at 11:57 pm est

2nd email on 9/7/13 at 2:05 am est

Their customer service is non-existent. They are also supposed to get a email every time someone posts a comment here and if they read it, they didn't care enough to come here and try to resolve this problem.

I paid $23.50 for the program and can't used it now as it tells me my key has already been registered and it remains trial.

I basically threw away that money.

I suggest that anyone who is considering purchasing this program, or any program from the developers, that read this, to NOT waste your money, because if you ever have to re-install your OS the key will no longer register it because it "calls home" to verify the key and you can only use it once.

They will not reply to your repeated emails asking, requesting, begging, etc.

Sep 8 2013 at 3:35pm Copy Link

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Chris A final comment by me. The developer just read and got back to me and reset my key.

Your message to support

puffinwarellc.com was opened
Date: 9/8/2013 9:42 PM

Email Tracker

The recipient has begun to read your message. You'll receive additional information later.

Mail Read Information

To: support

puffinwarellc.com

Subject: iMetaSearch bug report

Sent On: 09/01/13 (11:57PM)

Opened: 09/08/13 (09:42PM)

This is a receipt for the email message you sent to support

puffinwarellc.com at 9/1/2013 11:57 PM

This receipt verifies that the message has been displayed on the recipient's computer at 9/8/2013 9:41 PM

Your message to support

puffinwarellc.com was opened

Date: 9/8/2013 9:44 PM

Email Tracker

The recipient has begun to read your message. You'll receive additional information later.

Mail Read Information

To: support

puffinwarellc.com

Subject: Re: iMetaSearch Upgrade Key

Sent On: 09/07/13 (01:54AM)

Opened: 09/08/13 (09:44PM)

This is his email to me:

Sorry about not getting back to you earlier. For some reason your email ended up in the spam filter and I missed it. I have reset your key so you have 2 more installations. Thanks for buying,

Sep 9 2013 at 1:15am Copy Link

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