MSN now allows you to view all the links to a certain page

Nov 9, 2007 14:11 GMT  ·  By

The search engines available on the Internet have more or less known tricks which allow beginners or advanced users to find their information easier than with a basic search. Google for example has numerous search operators that customize the search query and filter the results to show only the ones demanded by the consumers. Just like the other search technologies, MSN a.k.a. Windows Live Messenger has its own operators used to look for specific results. The "linkdomain" search operator was implemented in MSN search to allow the consumers to search for all the links to a certain website straight from the search box. But the parent company Microsoft decided some time ago to remove the operator without an official reason.

However, it seems that the function is back as typing it in the MSN search box provides exactly the links to the specified website. Your search query containing the "linkdomain" operator should look like this:

code
+linkdomain:softpedia.com
This search would bring you all the websites with links to softpedia.com. Obviously, you can replace softpedia.com with any site you want. In addition, you can find the link to only one page using the following operator:
code
+linkdomain:site/internal_page
There is no official announcement from Microsoft concerning the new search operator because it's only a minor update although some users might consider it a really useful feature.

Although the Redmond-based company struggles to make its Live Search engine more powerful, Google is still the main technology when it comes to search platforms. The recent studies revealed that Google is the leader in most countries all over the world with a few exceptions in China where the predominant search engine is Baidu. However, Baidu announced its plans to come to Europe so we might see an interesting duel concerning the search engines in this part of the planet.