Azure cognitive search api returns irrelevant results

Shobhit Srivastava 1

The documentation (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/rest/api/cognitiveservices-bingsearch/bing-web-api-v7-reference#headers) says that the "q" parameter accepts advanced search operators. However, it seems like the operators are not functioning correctly, as I keep getting irrelevant search results that don't match the boolean queries that I'm building. For example, the term "("Atlanta" OR "Charleston") AND ("Software Engineer" OR "Software Engineering Manager") AND ("Google")" should return results that have:

either the term "Atlanta" or the term "Charleston"
either the term "Software Engineer" or the term "Software Engineering Manager"
the term "Google"

Does anyone know why this is happening? I've tried to structure the query in similar ways, but I keep getting back web pages that don't fit the criteria.

Thanks!

romungi-MSFT 42,761 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2020-07-21T10:28:55.327+00:00

@Shobhit Srivastava Does the results vary or return pages that fit the criteria if the advanced search precedence is changed? By using the job description first and location later?
Shobhit Srivastava 1 Reputation point

2020-07-23T02:04:25.743+00:00

@romungi-MSFT No, I still get irrelevant results if I place the job descriptions before the locations. I think the way I've structured the query is correct, do you think it could be syntax-related?
romungi-MSFT 42,761 Reputation points Microsoft Employee

2020-07-23T08:36:01.63+00:00

@Shobhit Srivastava I do not see the issue in syntax as long as you are using the correct precedence criteria that you want your search query to use. You can report the irrelevant search results with more details to our team through a support ticket but do you see the same behavior with some different search terms too?

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Azure cognitive search api returns irrelevant results