What does the exclamation point (!) signify in a search profile?

Adding an exclamation point (!) in front of a key-term forces the word to match exactly as written. For example, select !GIS will only generate matches for solicitations where "GIS" is printed in capital letters; in this case, a solicitation containing "Gis" or "gis" would not generate a match.

With most acronyms, you do not need to force the system to match on capital letters only because they are not commonly used words (e.g. "gis" or "sbir"). In fact, by forcing acronym searches to be case sensitive, you risk eliminating bid opportunities that your clients may be interested in simply because an acronym is spelled in lowercase rather than uppercase letters.

However, for acronyms such as IS (information system) or IT (information technology) that represent commonly used words when spelled in lowercase letters, an exclamation point must be used to force the term to match only when it is printed in all capital letters.

For more information on search profiles, download the Bid Match Guide PDF, which provides a comprehensive discussion of the entire Bid Match program.

Want more? Browse our extensive list of WebCATS FAQs.

© 2009 Softshare, Inc. All rights reserved.