Propel’s powerful media monitoring system lets you track mentions across online, print, social and broadcast sources using custom search queries. Writing a well-structured query can help you capture the most relevant media coverage for your brand or client. Below, we'll guide you through the rules, examples, and available Boolean operators to help you create effective queries.
General Rules for Writing Queries:
- Case Insensitive Search Terms: Search terms are case insensitive. For example, `“President Lincoln”` will return the same results as `“president lincoln”`.
- Uppercase Boolean Operators: Boolean operators (like AND, OR, and NOT) must always be written in uppercase. Using lowercase operators will result in an error.
- Quotations for Phrases: Search terms that consist of multiple words must be enclosed in quotation marks. For example, both `"lincoln"` and `lincoln` are valid, but `"president lincoln"` must be in quotes to search for the entire phrase.
Basic Query Examples:
Here are some common examples to help you get started:
- Track Mentions of Two Topics Together:
"uber" AND "ridesharing"
This query will find all mentions that include both the terms "Uber" and "ridesharing." - Exclude Unrelated Mentions:
("red sox" AND "baseball") AND NOT "color"
This query will find mentions of the Red Sox and baseball but exclude results mentioning the word "color."
Advanced Query Examples:
For more complex monitoring needs, you can use advanced Boolean logic and operators:
Monitor Mentions of Uber and Its Related Services:
(("uber" AND ("eats" OR "ridesharing" OR "drivers")) OR ("uber" AND url:"uber.com") OR "uber rides"~6 ) AND NOT "germany" AND lang:(en)
This query will track Uber-related terms, prioritize mentions from `uber.com`, and exclude results from Germany. It will only show results in English (`lang:(en)`).
This query is designed to track mentions related to Uber and its services, with specific filters and exclusions. Here’s a breakdown:
- Tracking Uber and its services: The query searches for mentions of "uber" combined with related services like:
"eats" (e.g., Uber Eats) "ridesharing" "drivers"
This means any content mentioning both "uber" and one of these services will be captured. - Focusing on mentions from Uber's website: The query also looks for mentions of "uber" specifically on Uber’s official website by including results with `url:"uber.com"`.
- Searching for "uber rides" near each other: The phrase `"uber rides"~6` tells the query to look for instances where the words "uber" and "rides" appear within six words of each other. This helps capture variations of the term, like "Uber offers rides" or "rides available via Uber."
- Excluding results from Germany: The filter `AND NOT "germany"` excludes any results that mention "Germany," so you won’t get results from or about Germany.
- Restricting results to English: The query includes the filter `lang:(en)`, which ensures that only mentions in the English language are shown.
In summary, this query helps you track mentions of Uber and its services across multiple contexts, gives priority to mentions from Uber’s official site, and narrows down results by excluding anything related to Germany and non-English content.
Boolean Operators and Syntax:
Here’s a list of common Boolean operators and how to use them:
Here are some more Query formatting tips:
- Grouping: Use parentheses `()` to group different sets of search terms for more control over your query. For example, `("bulls" OR "wizards") AND "michael jordan"`.
- Search Within URLs: Use the `url:` operator to search for mentions from specific domains (e.g., `url:"nytimes.com"`).
- Specify Language: Use the `lang:` operator to filter mentions by language, such as `lang:(en)` for English mentions.
- Keyword Distance: Use the `~n` operator to specify how close words must appear to each other in a mention. For example, `"uber rides"~5` will return mentions where "uber" appears within five words of "rides."
If you have any questions or need assistance in writing your queries, feel free to contact our support team at support@propelmypr.com.