Computer skills: why a search might return a page that doesn’t seem to have the search term

Self-tutoring about everyday computer situations: the tutor mentions one that can be tiring.

Occasionally, one might want to know if a term exists within a web site. Using a search bar, one might check for said term. A page might be returned that doesn’t seem to have the term requested. How can such happen?

One interesting possibility is that the underlying html document may contain the term. The html code itself, called “markup,” wraps the content in tags that prescribe how it’s displayed (font color, heading size, spacing, etc.).

An example might be as follows: In a search box, one types the word “maroon” (which happens to be a standard colour name in html). A page on the site has, in its underlying markup, an instruction to display some content in maroon (a reddish-brown). As such, “maroon” is not part of the content. Yet, that page may be given back in the search response. The user may then search that specific page, possibly with Ctrl+F, but not find “maroon,” because the user only sees the content, not the markup. They might notice something on the page is maroon-coloured, but understandably not make the connection – at least, at first.

At that point, right-clicking, then View Page Source, then Ctrl+F, may well reveal why that page was returned from a search for “maroon.”

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