Verbatim mode means we search for exactly the terms you put into the box. Quoting terms means we search for exactly the quoted terms. That's what I meant by them being them same.
So if you did this search in verbatim:
[search for this]
It's the same as:
["search" "for" "this"]
in terms of the instructions we're getting on what to retrieve -- look for content that has all of those words and only those words. No spell check. No synonyms. Just those words.
The ranking of the results might differ, because we probably use slightly different ranking systems when using verbatim versus quoted words. But in either case, the retrieval requirement is the same. Results should have all the required words.
I don't really see what the link above is saying to somehow refute all this. That link is about a quoted search for ["eggzackly this"] and nothing to do with verbatim mode. And it says that it found those two words in that order with punctuation...
Which is what I explained elsewhere in this (now huge) thread. But to give it again:
Typically the reasons people believe quotes are not working when they are is because:
1) text appears in ALT text
2) text is not readily visible on a page (maybe in a menu bar or small text)
3) there's punctuation ("dog cat" will match "dog, cat"
4) page has changed after we've indexed it (so view the cached copy, if available)
In the [eggzackly this] example, that's what was happening as the poster saw -- we found those words separated by punctuation, which we interpret as a space, so the phrase is matched.
Personally, I wish we'd fix the situation with punctuation. I get that's confusing. But that's not a new change; quotes have operated that way for ages.
Most important -- quotes SHOULD work as you and others are expecting. We WANT them to work that way. That's why we spend time looking at these reports saying they're not. I have spent lots of time doing just that. We find the matches. But if anyone believes they aren't working, and the reasons involved above aren't happening, let me know. We'll get on it. We want them to work as expected, and we want everyone to feel they're working that way.