Google Search Tips
How to Get More out of Google
I'm Feeling Lucky
Getting Specific
Singular is different from plural.
The order of words matters. Google considers the first word most important, the second word next, and so on.
Google ignores most little words or called stop words.
Google ignores most punctuation, except apostrophes, hyphens, and quote marks.
To Quote a Phrase
If you type in more than one keyword, Google automatically searches for all the words anywhere they appear on a Web page, whether they're side by side or scattered throughout.
If you want only Web pages that contain your words in order, as a complete phrase, let Google know by enclosing your words in quotes, as: "to be or not to be".
Searching Within Your Results
And vs. Or
When you run a search, Google assumes that you want to find all of the search words you type.
If, on the other hand, you want to find pages that have either one term or another, type OR between them, like this: "Ben Affleck" OR "Matt Damon" OR chimps
Finally, if you want one term plus any of several other terms, group the optionsin parentheses, like this: chimps ("Ben Affleck" OR "Mark Wahlberg")
Just Say No
Google lets you use a minus sign (or dash) to indicate that you don't want a certain term to appear in your results.: "Ben Affleck" -"Jennifer Lopez"
Just Say Yes
If a common word or number is critical to your search, you can tell Google to include it. Simply place a plus sign (+) directly in front of the term you want to include, like this: +the omen
Two Important Google Quirks
Wildcards
Google offer full-word wildcards. You can throw one into a phrase and have it substitute for a word. Thus, searching for "chicken with its * cut off" could find: "chicken with its head cut off," "chicken with its hair cut off," "chicken with its electricity cut off," and so on.
The full-word wildcard is also cool when you want the answer to a question.
Haley's comet appears every * years
Playing the wildcard
Google doesn't count wildcards as part of your *-word limit.
Similar pages
The "Similar pages" link searches the Web for pages that fall into the same general category as that result.
Sponsored Links
Definitions define sedulous
If you want a list of definitions and no other results, type in define followed by a colon and your terms, with no spaces on either side of the colon, like this: define:wireless LAN
You can use the blank Google search box as a calculator.
Phonebook
Google provides a phonebook service, letting you look up a phone number and address (with corresponding map) for business or residential listings.
To get a page of nothing but phonebook listings, type the word phonebook followed by a colon, then a space, and then the name and state you want to look up:
phonebook: ansonia veterinary center NY
To limit your search to residential listings, type rphonebook before the name and state. For business listings, use bphonebook.
Patents, Tracking IDs, and Other Numeric Goodies
Weather: weather: shanghai
Movies: movie public enemy
Superior Searching
Setting Preferences
SafeSearch Filtering
Page-specific tools:
Find pages similar to the page
Find pages that link to the page
http://www.google.com.au/language_tools?hl=en
Getting Fancy with Syntax
File format: filetype:[pdf|ppt|doc|xls|swf|]
Specifying where on a page to search: allintitle, allinbody, allinurl, allinlinks
Domain: site:www.ibm.com/developerworks
Searching Titles: intitle:"file sharing"
A variation of this syntax, allintitle, finds pages that have all your keywords or phrases in the title, in any order: allintitle:file sharing
Searching Text: intext:amazon
Searching Anchors: inanchor:"Richard Stallman"
Searching Within Sites and Domains: site:gov "agricultural subsidies"
You can also use site to exclude a particular Web site from your search: books -site:amazon.com
Searching URLs:
Inurl is also handy when you want to exclude a site from your search: books -inurl:amazon
Who Links to Whom?
If you type in link:friendster.com, Google spits out a list of pages linked to Friendster.com.
Caching Up
The cache operator lets you view Google's last cached copy of a page, even if the page has moved from its original URL or changed radically: cache:espn.com
Searching for Related Content
The related operator performs the same search as the "Similar pages" link that appears in a Google result: related:"sesame street"
Synonyms
The ~ symbol tells Google to look for synonyms: ~help "openoffice"
Most of the Kit and Caboodle
The info operator provides you with a tidy summary of the details Google can give you about a URL: info:firefox 3.6
Mixing Syntax
How Not to Mix Syntax
Canceling yourself out
Don't mix operators that cancel each other out: site:bluefly.com inurl:bluefly
Doubling up
"trading spaces" site:com site:edu
To get what you want, try this: "trading spaces" (site:edu OR site:com)
How to Mix Syntax Correctly
cattle intitle:form site:usda.gov
Anatomy of a Google URL
http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=en&num=30&q=firefox+4&btnG=Search&meta=&aq=f&oq=
Changing the Number of Results: num=?
The "q" toward the end signals the query itself.
Changing the Interface Language: hl=en
Other sites:
Many sites perform deeper, more specialized searches than Google.
http://mesa.rrzn.uni-hannover.de/
Resources:
