Creating a well-structured search query in MT Connect ensures you get the most relevant media content. This article explains the different types of supported search syntax with examples you can follow.
1. Simple Boolean queries (AND / OR)
These are the most basic types of searches, combining words using AND or OR.
Examples:
- climate AND policy
→ Returns results that include both “climate” and “policy” - inflation OR interest
→ Returns results that include either “inflation” or “interest” (or both)
2. Exact match queries
Use double quotes (“”) to search for an exact word or phrase (case-sensitive).
Examples:
- “climate change” AND “carbon tax”
→ Returns articles where both exact phrases are mentioned - “stock market” OR “bond yield”
→ Finds either exact phrase in the content - economy AND NOT “stock market”
→ Returns content that includes “economy” but excludes exact match for “stock market”
Note: Wildcards (e.g., *) cannot be used inside exact match phrases.
3. Proximity queries (NEAR/x)
Use NEAR/x to find terms within x words of each other, in any order.
Examples:
- electric NEAR/3 vehicle
→ Matches content where “electric” appears within 3 words of “vehicle” - (electric NEAR/3 vehicle) AND battery
→ Content where “electric” is near “vehicle” and also includes “battery” - (renewable NEAR/5 energy) AND NOT coal
→ Finds “renewable” near “energy”, but excludes results mentioning “coal”
Unsupported:
"electric vehicle" NEAR/3 policy
electric* NEAR/3 vehicle4. Grouped Boolean queries
Group expressions with parentheses to control logic and search priority.
Examples:
- (inflation OR recession) AND economy
→ Returns articles discussing economy with either inflation or recession - (Europe OR Asia) AND (exports OR imports)
→ Finds either “Europe” or “Asia” and also mention either “exports” or “imports” - ((AI OR automation) AND jobs) OR innovation
→ This query finds articles that mention either “AI” or “automation” together with “jobs” or articles that mention “innovation” more broadly.
Note: Always use grouping to clarify combinations of AND and OR.
5. Wildcard queries
Use the * wildcard to match partially spelled words.
Examples:
- tech* → Matches: tech, technology, tech-savvy, technical
- *data* → Matches: metadata, database, rawdata
Wildcard + Boolean example:
- (tech* OR AI) AND (privacy AND NOT “data breach”)
→ This query finds articles that mention either any word starting with “tech” (such as technology, technical, tech-savvy) or “AI”, and also mention “privacy”, but exclude any results containing the exact phrase “data breach”
Note: Wildcards are not allowed inside double quotes (e.g., “tech*” is invalid)
6. Complex boolean queries
Combine exact matches, proximity, wildcards, and Boolean operators for advanced control.
Examples:
- (cybersecurity NEAR/4 attack) AND “data leak”
→ Finds content on cyber attacks near the term and exact phrase “data leak” - (“electric vehicle” OR “EV adoption”) AND “charging station” AND NOT diesel
→ This query finds articles that mention either the exact phrase “electric vehicle” or “EV adoption”,and also include the exact phrase “charging station”, while excluding any content that contains the word “diesel”.
Do’s and Don’ts
✅ Supported:
- (inflation OR recession) AND market
- ((AI AND jobs) OR automation) AND NOT “job loss”
❌ Not Supported:
- AI OR automation AND jobs
→ Should be grouped: (AI OR automation) AND jobs - NOT inflation or inflation OR NOT deflation
→ Negative terms must be paired correctly with AND: inflation AND NOT deflation
Notes for non-latin script
Languages like Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, etc. must use double quotes to group whole words or phrases.
Examples:
- Chinese: “你好” OR “世界”
- Japanese: “こんにちは” AND “世界”
- Korean: “안녕하세요” OR “세계”
- Thai: “สวัสดี” AND “โลก”
Without quotes, the system may treat individual characters as separate keywords.
List of non-latin script languages
Words with special characters
If a keyword contains special characters (like -, /, ., @), wrap it in double quotes to avoid it being split into separate terms.
Examples:
- “media-track.com” → Correct
- media-track.com → Incorrect; may split into “media” and “track”
If you’re unsure how to structure a query or need help with complex searches, feel free to contact [email protected] using a subject “Technical”.