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I’ve tried and I can’t make my search go to the iTunes Store, unless I’m in the iTunes Store, in the first place.

My search box is keyed into what “place” I’m in, when I do the search. If I’m in my music library, it will search there.

In my iTunes program, I’ve got this list on the top left...

Library
— Music
— Movies
— TV Shows
— Podcasts
— Applications
— Radio
— Ringtones

STORE
— iTunes Store
— Purchased
— Purchased on iPhone

Search is on the top right, an oblong box with round corners and you type in it. To the left of Search is the View function. Just put it on “List view” to see what happens (more easily, anyway...) in “Search”.

And so, if when you click on a choice on the top left (any one of the “Library” choices or the “Store” choices) that is where your search is going to be. So, I’m guessing that when you say “Search” for something, that you *are* searching your own library and you’re not searching the “iTunes Store”... :-)

You choose where you search by which item on the top left you choose. So, choose “Music” and you should have a long list there (again, choose “List view” just so you can see what happens in list form). If you’re in “Music” (library), then when you type just one letter in the “Search” box, it will change the list immediately. And when you type the second letter, it will again, change and reduce the list immediately. As you type, just one letter at a time, you can see the “Music” list change and reduce in size. And if you type enough letters so that there are no matching letters in your “Music” list, you will have a blank list there. There will be nothing showing at all. You don’t get anything from the iTunes Music Store, unless you go to the iTunes Music Store (i.e., “choose” iTunes Store on the top left).

However, the search function does not work the same way as I just described, in the iTunes Store “pane” (the choice on the top left). In that search function, as you type the letters, nothing happens to your view. The view stays the same. And you may type all the letters (characters) of your search parameters and then you hit “Return” (at least on mine, that’s what I do...). BUT, while you are typing each individual letter on the search box in the iTunes Store “pane” — you do get a different kind of “feedback” as you’re typing each letter. There will be a drop-down box which has a list of possible choices in the iTunes Store from your current “letters” entered so far in the search box. Sometimes you don’t have to type all the letters and you’ll see the “result” you want in the drop-down box, which indicates a “hit” in the iTunes Store. If so, then all you have to do is slide your mouse down that drop-down list and choose the one that represents the “hit” you want and click. And you’ll go there (inside the iTunes Store).

So, you should be able to “see” which place you’re at, when doing searches by the way it works in the search functionality. The Search functionality works one way inside the iTunes Store, and it works a completely different way inside the other “panes” listed up above in your “Library”...

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Now, there is a “User Help Board” that Apple puts up for all Apple Users to share information with one another. You can ask questions there. It’s not a guarantee that you’ll get the right answer, as it is “user-to-user” help, not “Apple Help”. Apple just put that up there because a good resource is the information from other users and their experience and knowledge. It’s broken down into categories and devices and software and platforms, so you’ll be able to “zero in” in the information that you’re looking for.

You have to have an “Apple ID” already set up to set up your account (which is free there). But, if you’re buying iTunes songs, you’ve got an Apple ID. That would be your e-mail account that you’ve used and chosen for your Apple iTunes account (the original one you used to set up the iTunes Store account). You use that one (or you can actually make up another Apple ID if you want, for the Apple user-to-user help, but then things can start to get confusing with people... :-) ...).

Apple Discussion Forum
http://discussions.apple.com/

As I said, with the Apple Discussion Forum, you need to set up an account to be able to post there and ask questions. It is user-to-user and *not* Apple Tech Help to user. But, many times other users have good information and answers. The Apple community is a helpful community to one another. You’ll find many people willing to help out, if it’s something that they know about. But, you don’t always get answers, because some problems may be beyond the scope of many users. Common problems will be easily answered there, of course.

NOW..., what I would like to know, as you look at your search function on the iTunes program — is *how* that “search functionality” works — more specifically, in the way I outlined for either the “iTunes Store” — or — as I pointed out for how it should be in the “Music” library. That will tell me “where” you are at, inside your iTunes program.

From what I’ve seen and heard from others, if you are “in the store” you’re going to get “sales” and “advertising” there. But if you are “in your library”, you’re not going to get “sales” or “advertising” there. So, the bottom line answer, as I said from the beginning — is simply — don’t go into a store if you don’t want advertising...

But, I do await your response...