Microsoft has confirmed the fact that it has turned off some of the advanced query syntax in Live Search in order to render useless data mining attempts. The Redmond Company has sacrificed Live Search functionality in order to bulletproof the search engine against data mining.

"For those of you who use some of the advanced query syntax in our search engine such as link:, linkdomain: and inurl:, you may have noticed that this functionality has been recently turned off. We have been seeing broad use of these features by legitimate users but unfortunately also what appears to be mass automated usage for data mining. So for now, we have made the tough call to block all queries with these operators," said Eytan Seidman, a lead program manager for Live Search.

In the meantime, users will not be able to enter advanced query syntax in the Live Search engine, including link:, linkdomain:, and inurl:. Search engine data mining implies that Live search was used in order to identify patterns and relationships between web pages, domains, URLs etc.

At the present time, Microsoft failed to deliver a timeframe for when Live Search will regain its functionality, but stated that the issues is being resolved.

"We are doing our best to get this back online as soon as possible in a manner that allows folks that use this functionality for real queries. We have a few good ideas up our sleeve on how to enable this, but want to make sure we are making the right changes that will give you the functionality you want and all of our customers the experience they deserve. Our apologies and thank you for being patient," Seidman added.