MetaFind

We all tend to have the same three questions about any new software - what is it, where can I download it, and how much does it cost?  The price of MetaFind is $20.  It is sold as a shareware program, with a 30-day free trial.  During the trial period all features are fully enabled; the program is not limited in any way.

You can download MetaFind here.

After 30 days, you will need to enter an activation key, which you can purchase here:  


Which leaves us with just one question:  What is MetaFind?

MetaFind is a powerful search tool which provides four ways to find what you’re looking for:

•  Blended MetaSearch forwards your simple and advanced queries to as many as twenty major search engines, then combines the results to provide the most comprehensive and relevant results possible.  By ranking the search results according to the consensus of multiple search providers, relevant results rise to the top, while spam and paid listings are pushed towards the bottom.  

•  Group Web Search bypasses the general-purpose search engines and goes directly to the source, forwarding your query to focused Search Groups drawn from over five thousand searchable web sites.  

•  Custom Form Search provides direct access to the search engines of web sites too specialized for standard search tools.  

•  Hybrid Search uses the results of a background Blended MetaSearch to choose the best web sites from a Web Search Group, and then searches those sites for you.

All four searches are integrated into a simple, flexible interface that lets you choose how to search, and how and where to display the results.

MetaFind can operate in two modes – a compact floating toolbar that sends its results to your favorite browser, or a standard, full-sized application with its own internal tabbed browser capable of displaying both blended MetaSearch results and web pages from Web Group, Custom Form, and Hybrid Searches.  Both modes offer the same features, and you can switch between them at any time.

MetaFind is intended for a wide range of uses and users.  Performing a search can be as simple as entering a word or phrase and pressing Enter.  For more complex tasks, Advanced mode offers twelve types of search parameters, and custom Search Groups can be created to search exactly where you want, for exactly what you want.  Searches can be saved and re-run, and Blended MetaSearch results can be saved, reloaded, printed, and exported.  You can search through the returned results, and copy result and web page selections to the MetaFind ScrapBook.  With SiteRanker, results can be scanned for a specific URL, and a list of ranks for that URL displayed, printed, and exported.

MetaFind protects you while you search.  Built-in access to McAfee SiteAdvisor, Norton Safe Web, and Web Of Trust lets you test search result links for safety before visiting them, either automatically or at your request.  Access to web sites in its Search Groups can be filtered and password-protected, allowing you to create a customized search tool suitable for younger searchers.  It even contains a “Kid-Friendly” Category with over a hundred web sites in fifteen Search Groups.

MetaFind is designed to work the way you want it to.  It remembers everything you search for, but can easily be told what to forget.  Both modes provide easy access to the full list of Search Groups, and to a QuickList which holds just your favorites.  Choose any of five browsers to send results and web pages to, or add your own.  Easily customize any Search Group or add new ones.  Control how many MetaSearch results are returned, and how long they are automatically saved for you.  Choose the fonts and colors used to display your search results for both Standard and Toolbar modes.

MetaFind is fully scriptable.  A simple yet powerful scripting language provides automated control of search, rank, and export functions, and can call and pass parameters to external programs.  A sample application, RankTracker, is included, with VB.NET source code.  Together with the included MetaFind script, it demonstrates how to tell MetaFind to perform multiple searches, scan the results to compile ranks, export the ranks, and call RankTracker to add those exported ranks to its own data store.  RankTracker can then be run separately to display simple charts that track the progress of a web site’s ranks over time.


If you would like to know more, we have posted the MetaFind User Guide; an extensive, richly illustrated PDF guide to MetaFind, which you can download here.  You’ll need the Adobe Acrobat Reader to view it - if you don’t already have it, you can download it here.


And now, on to the MetaFind screenshots!

Read the MetaFind FAQ.

Read the MetaFind User Guide