NAME

URI::ParseSearchString - parse search engine referrer URLs and extract keywords used

VERSION

Version 3.5 (Diablo 3 edition)

SYNOPSIS

  use URI::ParseSearchString ;

  my $uparse = new URI::ParseSearchString();
  my $ref    = 'http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=a+simple+test&btnG=Google+Search';
    
  my $query_terms = $uparse->se_term( $ref );
  my $canonical   = $uparse->se_name( $ref );
  my $hostname    = $uparse->se_host( $ref );

FUNCTIONS

new

  Creates a new instance object of the module.
  
  my $uparse = new URI::ParseSearchString() ;

parse_search_string

This module provides a simple function to parse and extract search engine query strings. It was designed and tested having Apache referrer logs in mind. It can be used for a wide number of purposes, including tracking down what keywords people use on popular search engines before they land on a site. Although a number of existing modules and scripts exist for this purpose, the majority of them are either outdated using obsolete search strings associated with each engine.

The default function exported is "parse_search_string" which accepts an unquoted referrer string as input and returns the search engine query contained within. It currently works with both escaped and un-escaped queries and will translate the search terms before returning them in the latter case. The function returns undef in all other cases and errors.

for example:

   my $ref   = 'http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=a+simple+test&btnG=Google+Search';
   my $terms = 
      $uparse->parse_search_string( $ref );

would return 'a simple test'

whereas

   my $ref   = 'http://www.mamma.com/Mamma?utfout=1&qtype=0&query=a+more%21+complex_+search%24&Submit=%C2%A0%C2%A0Search%C2%A0%C2%A0';
   my $terms =  
      $uparse->parse_search_string( $ref );

would return 'a more! complex_ search$'

se_term

Same as parse_search_string().

findEngine

Returns a list with the hostname of the search engine as the first element and the canonical name as the second element.

  my $ref = 'http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=a+simple+test&btnG=Google+Search';
  my ($hostname, $canonical) = $uparse->findEngine( $ref ) ;

This will return 'google.com' as the search engine hostname and 'Google' as the name. This function will return undef on error.

se_host

Wrapper around findEngine - returns just the hostname. This function will return undef on error.

se_name

Wrapper around findEngine - returns just the canonical name; This function will return undef on error.

SUPPORTED ENGINES

Currently supported search engines include: Sproose, Google Namibia, Google Ivory Coast, Google Oman, Technorati, Google Ecuador, Google Norfolk Island, Mahalo, Google UK, Yahoo! UK, Google Micronesia, Google Bahrain, Basta Clicar, Giga Busca, Google Greece, Google Belgium, Google Egypt, Google Chile, Godado (IT), Google Australia, Google Uruguay, Google India, Google Taiwan, Google Ukraine, Google US, Terra ES, Tesco Search, Megasearching, SAPO videos, Google Nepal, Google Israel, Google US Virgin Islands, Google Hungary, Google San Marino, Google Croatia, Google dot jobs, Google Panama, Google Malaysia, Internetica, Google Brunei Darussalam, Google Denmark, Google Pakistan, Google Solomon Islands, Google dot biz, Google Lesotho, IceRocket, Google Greenland, Fireball DE, Rtp, Google Portugal, Google Samoa, Google Kazakhstan, Google Blogsearch, Google Thailand, Google, Google Antiqua and Barbuda, Google Germany, Google Moldova, Google Zambia, Google Greece, Google Sri Lanka, Google Ireland, Google Austria, Google Peru, Google Guatemala, ICQ dot com, AOL UK, Google Guyana, In GR, Google dot info, MyWay, Pathfinder GR, Google Costa Rica, KataTudo, Google Jamaica, Google Vietnam, Google Morocco, Google Gambia, Google Singapore, Google Mauritius, Altavista, Google Afghanistan, Google Cote dIvoire, Google Kazakhstan, Google Czech Rep, Phantis GR, Google Bahamas, Google United Arab Emirates, Google East Timor, Ozu ES, Google Venezuela, Google Puerto Rico, Google Armenia, Google Croatia, Google Botswana, Google Tuvalu, Ask UK, Google Singapore, Mirago UK, Google Greenland, MSN Arabia, Google Nauru, Publico, Robby GR, Minas Planet, Pesquisa Iol, Google Romania, Google South Korea, Google Jersey, Netscape, Busca Aqui, Google Bulgaria, Google Uzbekistan, Tiscali UK, Ithaki, Cadê, Lycos IT, Google Suriname, Excite IT, Google Hong Kong, Kataweb IT, Google Burundi, Click Gratis, Google Vietnam, MSN, Alice.it, Google Honduras, Google Trinidad and Tobago, Google Uganda, XL, Jornal Noticias, Google Cook Islands, Google Japan, Google Ecuador, Google Ghana, Google Guadeloupe, Google Libya, Google Kenya, Fastbrowsersearch, Aeiou, Google Niue, Jornal Record, HotBot, Google Honduras, Google Georgia, Google Fiji, Google Philipines, BBC Search, Google, Google Laos, Soso, AltaVista Brasil, Lycos UK, SAPO fotos, Ask dot com, Google Netherlands, Google Philipines, Google Trinidad and Tobago, Google Turkey, AllTheWeb, Google Japan, Google Argentina, Google Vanuatu, Blueyonder, Google Greenland, Google Samoa, Google Georgia, Google Slovakia, Google Sri Lanka, Pesquisa SAPO, Google Latvia, Google Latvia, Correio Manha, Terra Busca, Google El Savador, Google Cambodia, Google Mauritius, Google China, AOL Search, Google Tokelau, Google Tonga, Correio da Manha, Radar UOL, Google Jordan, Godado, Google Jordan, Google Pitcairn Islands, Categorico IT, Google Morocco, Google Dominican Rep, Google France, Abacho, Google Azerbaijan, Google Andorra, Google Belize, Google Paraguay, Simpatico IT, Google Ethiopia, Google Uganda, Google Poland, Google Bolivia, Google Hungary, Google Russia, Diario Noticias, Google Puerto Rico, Google Montserrat, Yahoo! Japan, Google Seychelles, Mamma, Google Pitcairn Islands, Google South Africa, Paglo, Google Malta, Google Azerbaijan, Google New Zeland, Google China, Google Norway, Google Bosnia and Herzegovina, Google Indonesia, SpeedyBusca, Entrada, Google Anguilla, Google Rep of Congo, Google Dominica, Google Finland, Altavista UK, Google Guyana, MSN UK, Yahoo Answers, Google British Virgin Islands, Google Guadeloupe, Google Lithuania, Google Antiqua and Barbuda, Google Bahamas, Google Malawi, MSN Prodigy, Bing, Google Bolivia, Google Djubouti, Google Uzbekistan, Fastweb IT, Google Tajikistan, Virgin Search, Google Nigeria, Yahoo Japan, Pesquisa Clix, Google Grenada, Google Haiti, Google American Samoa, Google Pakistan, Google Cocos Islands, Google Hong Kong, NTLWorld, ilMotore, Google Belize, Google Guernsey, Google Sweden, Google Anguilla, Google Bangladesh, Google Isle of Man, Google Guernsey, Google Kyrgyzstan, Google Dem Rep of Congo, Google Malawi, Orange Search, Google Seychelles, Google Guyana, Google Gibraltar, oogle Italy, Google Kiribati, TheSpider IT, Google Nicaragua, Google Russia, Google Venezuela, Google Poland, Google Brazil, Google Senegal, Conduit, Lycos, Google Isle of Man, Live.com, Google Italy, Libero IT, Google Canada, Google Nauru, Google Liechtenstein, Google Afghanistan, Cuil, Google Zimbabwe, Google Mauritius, Orange ES, Google Burundi, Google Portugal, ACBusca, Bem Rapido, Atalho Certo, Excite, Clusty, Yahoo Brazil, My Web Search, Google Spain, Google Uzbekistan, Google, Google Mexico, T-Online, Google dot mobi, Google Luxembourg, Google Austria, Yahoo!, Google Kiribati, Sweetim, Vai Busca, Google Mongolia, Google Saudi Arabia, Google dot net, Google Maldives, Google Trinidad and Tobago, Google Jersey, Feedster, Google Turkmenistan, Google Switzerland, Google Norfolk Island, Suche DE, Google Malawi, Google Rwanda, Lycos ES, Google Burundi, Google French Guiana, Google Kyrgyzstan, Google Saint Helena, VirginMedia, Google Iceland, SAPO sabores, Google India, Google Cuba, Google US Virgin Islands, Google Taiwan, Google Sao Tome, Google Slovenia, Starware, Google Estonia, Conduit, Yahoo India, Rediff, Guruji

AUTHOR

Spiros Denaxas, <s.denaxas at gmail.com>

SOURCE CODE

The source code can be found on github https://github.com/spiros/URI-ParseSearchString

BUGS

This is my first CPAN module so I encourage you to send all comments, especially bad, to my email address.

This could not have been possible without the support of my co-workers at http://nestoria.co.uk - the easiest way of finding UK property.

SUPPORT

For more information, you could also visit my blog:

        http://blog.ffffruit.com

COPYRIGHT & LICENSE

Copyright 2011 Spiros Denaxas, all rights reserved.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

cpanm URI::ParseSearchString

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install URI::ParseSearchString