Search macros made easier

For years I’ve looked for ways to simplify a daily task. It’s the chore of scouring a dozen or more Web sites for news pertaining to (or mentioning) Spokane. I’ve never found a simple solution.

But Microsoft’s new search macro option, developed for its Live.com search site, makes that search task a one-stop effort.

Search macros are nothing more than a roll-your-own search site that each user can adapt.

You can try out my Spokane news search at http://search.live.com/macros/area_news/ spokane/ or you can create your own at: http://search.live.com/macros.

My own Spokane news macro includes several newspaper sites, from Nytimes.com to Seattletimes.com and about a dozen others.

It’s not perfect, but I can customize the sites included in the search, adding or deleting as I learn where best results are found. The use of macros, currently only available through Live.com, also allows you to set higher priority on newer stories and stories seen more often compared to others. At least Live says it allows that feature; I’m not sure it works very well, yet.

Say you also just want to search for terms related to Seattle and only found within a customized Seattle search macro; it’s already been done. Some Live user has developed a site just for that purpose.

You don’t have to make your search macro public; you can keep it personal.

To browse through the thousands of other macros created and made public at Live, go to http://gallery.live.com/ and head down to the section Latest for Search Macros.

Live, of course, is the Microsoft challenger to Yahoo and Google. It’s got some nice features; its image search is something the .TXT section uses at times to find photos displayed weekly in Photostream.