# WHY 120 Seconds between searches? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 24, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-120-seconds-between-searches/533566 "2010-03-24T01:53:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Khendrask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@Khendrask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khendrask)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-120-seconds-between-searches/533566/1 "2010-03-24T01:53:47Z")
I mean seriously. I am a complete idiot, but I try to search here for information on related posts, and/or prior posts before I demonstrate my lack of intelligence… Why must I wait two minutes between searches? (yes, thank you for pointing out the google searches here, but I want to know why the restriction exists here on SDMB) ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-120-seconds-between-searches/533566/2 "2010-03-24T01:58:39Z")
I think it has something to do with spambots. Or ninjas. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-120-seconds-between-searches/533566/3 "2010-03-24T02:01:52Z")
Be thankful. Until recently, it was five (5) minutes! Two minutes feel like Heaven. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-120-seconds-between-searches/533566/4 "2010-03-24T02:13:13Z")
Performance issues with either the servers or database.(If memory is accurate.) ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-120-seconds-between-searches/533566/5 "2010-03-24T02:15:06Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Be thankful. Until recently, it was five (5) minutes! Two minutes feel like Heaven. QFT. Five minutes sucked major. Two minutes, I can deal with. ---
**Author:** ![Khendrask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@Khendrask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khendrask)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-120-seconds-between-searches/533566/6 "2010-03-24T02:27:53Z")
Ouch… I run my MB’s with 1 second between searches, 30 seconds between postings, never had an issue. It used to be 600 seconds here? way ouch. And I don’t see how spambots could hurt a MB by searching… you can’t search again, till one is done, Soooo.,… hrm… I guess I just find it particularly annoying, as I don’t post much here, but when I do, I want to be triple-dog-dare sure that my response hasn’t been covered previously, OR want to find an older (not Zombie) thread that has new information to add to. Specifically, I was looking for the thread on Molly the owl this evening, but missed the ‘proper’ search term enough to make me give up on posting a status update there. /shrug Be well folks, and thanks for the replies. Regards ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-120-seconds-between-searches/533566/7 "2010-03-24T02:32:39Z")
In before a Mod mentions Google. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-120-seconds-between-searches/533566/8 "2010-03-24T06:28:03Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Performance issues with either the servers or database.(If memory is accurate.) That’s pretty much it. Searches put the most strain on our resources. If there are too many searches at the same time, then the board just throws up its hands, quits doing anything at all, and goes in a corner and sulks. Having a set time period between searches will make people think before they start a search. And yes, we used to have a longer search period, and we used to restrict searches to members only, no guests. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-120-seconds-between-searches/533566/9 "2010-03-24T09:15:16Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > That’s pretty much it. Searches put the most strain on our resources. If there are too many searches at the same time, then the board just throws up its hands, quits doing anything at all, and goes in a corner and sulks. Having a set time period between searches will make people think before they start a search. > > And yes, we used to have a longer search period, and we used to restrict searches to members only, no guests. I’ve always wondered: do you \*know \*that the board will curl up and die if there aren’t search delays, or are you just \*worried \*that it will do. I do appreciate that the process of finding out might be a bit stressful… ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-120-seconds-between-searches/533566/10 "2010-03-24T09:35:09Z")
When the board received too many search requests in the past, it has curled up and died. It flopped onto its back, with its little paws in the air, and had Xs for eyes. It used to stay that way until someone went down and messed with the server, or rebooted the board, or did something technical. Way back in the early days of the web based board, this was a daily occurence, and someone had to trot down to the server and tell it that it was a GOOD server, and yes it COULD handle this load. Or so I understand. I can say with confidence that the server DID shut down on a daily basis. I can’t say just what it took to get the server back up. I gather that it involved a lot of cussing. Lately, we’ve had new servers (or something technical), and we (that is, the admin staff, not me personally, but I read the emails) have been carefully adjusting things like search delay times and adding in new features, or enabling old features for guests that were previously reserved for members. The consensus is that we’d really rather not test the board/server to destruction, thankyouverymuch. I am not the most technically minded of the admins, and don’t really have much to do with the actual technical running of the board. But I’m the one who’s awake and reading this thread, so I’m the one who’s answering. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-120-seconds-between-searches/533566/11 "2010-03-24T09:40:26Z")
That’s great. Thank you. Whatever is happening seems to be working, as I’ve never seen the boards run so smoothly. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-120-seconds-between-searches/533566/12 "2010-03-24T10:07:21Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > That’s great. Thank you. Whatever is happening seems to be working, as I’ve never seen the boards run so smoothly. Funnily, Ed reported that they were having problems with some routine change, and yet, I’ve experienced no problems. So I don’t know if they got that fixed or not! ---
**Author:** ![Panurge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/fbc32d/32.png) [@Panurge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panurge)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-120-seconds-between-searches/533566/13 "2010-03-24T10:47:16Z")
> [@Meeko](#): > > In before a Mod mentions Google. Yup. Board is searchable via Google: “site:boards.straightdope.com/sdmb [query]” ---
**Author:** ![dhkendall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9adbd/32.png) [@dhkendall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dhkendall)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-120-seconds-between-searches/533566/14 "2010-03-24T13:23:14Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > That’s pretty much it. Searches put the most strain on our resources. If there are too many searches at the same time, then the board just throws up its hands, quits doing anything at all, and goes in a corner and sulks. Having a set time period between searches will make people think before they start a search. And then Ed has to stand in the tea chest and sing “Jerusalem” to get it to work again … ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-120-seconds-between-searches/533566/15 "2010-03-24T13:29:42Z")
> [@Panurge](#): > > Yup. Board is searchable via Google: > “site:boards.straightdope.com/sdmb [query]” This. Folks - not only does the search function on this board suck, but you have to wait 2 minutes between searches to be frustrated with what it spits out. USE GOOGLE. It reduces the strain on this board AND gets you your results faster. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-120-seconds-between-searches/533566/16 "2010-03-24T13:35:08Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > This. Folks - not only does the search function on this board suck, but you have to wait 2 minutes between searches to be frustrated with what it spits out. USE GOOGLE. It reduces the strain on this board AND gets you your results faster. Can Google do specialized searches, like for example searching thread titles only, or searching one specific forum, or restricting the search by date? This is a serious question; if Google can do it, I’d love to know how to construct the query. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-120-seconds-between-searches/533566/17 "2010-03-24T13:48:23Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Can Google do specialized searches, like for example searching thread titles only, or searching one specific forum, or restricting the search by date? This is a serious question; if Google can do it, I’d love to know how to construct the query. [Yes.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11650034&postcount=13) ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-120-seconds-between-searches/533566/18 "2010-03-24T13:51:27Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > [Yes.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11650034&postcount=13) Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-120-seconds-between-searches/533566/19 "2010-03-24T13:53:54Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > [Yes.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11650034&postcount=13) AWESOME! Thankyouthankyouthankyou ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2010, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-120-seconds-between-searches/533566/20 "2010-03-24T18:16:41Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Funnily, Ed reported that they were having problems with some routine change, and yet, I’ve experienced no problems. So I don’t know if they got that fixed or not! The problem is still occurring and today has been the worst day since the trouble started. The boards had run great for a long time, and I started seeing problems about when the announcement was made about the problems. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-120-seconds-between-searches/533566.md?page=2)