In this post I will show you some of the secrets of Advanced Google Search.
Google is clearly the best
general-purpose search engine on the Web. But most people don’t use it
to its best advantage or in an advanced way. Do you just plug in a
keyword or two and hope for the best? That may be the quickest way to
search, but with more than 3 billion pages in Google’s index, it’s still
a struggle to pare results to a manageable number. There are some ways
in which advanced Google search can be used to get the desired results.
But Google is an remarkably powerful
tool that can ease and enhance your Internet exploration. Advanced
Google search options go beyond simple keywords, the Web, and even its
own programmers. Let’s look at some of the advanced Google
search options.
Syntax Search Tricks
Using a special syntax is a way to tell
Google that you want to restrict your searches to certain elements or
characteristics of Web pages. Here are some advanced Google search
operators that can help narrow down your search results.
1. Intitle: at the
beginning of a query word or phrase (intitle:”Three Blind Mice”)
restricts your search results to just the titles of Web pages.
2. Intext: does the
opposite of intitle:, searching only the body text, ignoring titles,
links, and so forth. Intext: is perfect when what you’re searching for
might commonly appear in URLs. If you’re looking for the term HTML, for
example, and you don’t want to get results such as
you can enter intext:html
3. Link: lets you see which pages are linking to your Web page or to another page you’re interested in. For example, try typing in
4. site: (which
restricts results to top-level domains) with intitle: to find certain
types of pages. For example, get scholarly pages about Mark Twain by
searching for intitle:”Mark Twain”site:edu. Experiment with mixing
various elements; you’ll develop several strategies for finding the
stuff you want more effectively. The site: command is very helpful as an
alternative to the mediocre search engines built into many sites.
Swiss Army Google
Google has a number of services that can
help you accomplish tasks you may never have thought to use Google for.
For example, the new calculator feature (
Google Calculator)
lets you do both math and a variety of conversions from the search box.
For extra fun, try the query “Answer to life the universe and
everything.”
Suppose you want to contact someone and
don’t have his phone number handy. Google can help you with that, too.
Just enter a name, city, and state. (The city is optional, but you must
enter a state.) If a phone number matches the listing, you’ll see it at
the top of the search results along with a map link to the address. If
you’d rather restrict your results, use rphonebook: for residential
listings or bphonebook: for business listings. If you’d rather use a
search form for business phone listings, try Yellow Search
Let Google help you figure out whether
you’ve got the right spelling—and the right word—for your search. Enter a
misspelled word or phrase into the query box (try “thre blund mise”)
and Google may suggest a proper spelling. This doesn’t always succeed;
it works best when the word you’re searching for can be found in a
dictionary. Once you search for a properly spelled word, look at the
results page, which repeats your query. (If you’re searching for “three
blind mice,” underneath the search window will appear a statement such
as Searched the web for “three blind mice.”) You’ll discover that you
can click on each word in your search phrase and get a definition from a
dictionary.
Extended Googling
Google offers several advanced services that give you a head start in focusing your search. Google Groups (
Google Groups)
indexes literally millions of messages from decades of discussion on
Usenet. Google even helps you with your shopping via two tools:
which indexes products from online stores, and Google CatalogsCODE(
Google Catlogs),
which features products from more 6,000
paper catalogs in a searchable index. And this only scratches the
surface. You can get a complete list of Google’s tools and services at
www.google.com/options/index.html
You’re probably used to using Google in your browser. But have you ever thought of using Google outside your browser?
Google Alert
monitors your search terms and e-mails
you information about new additions to Google’s Web index. (Google Alert
is not affiliated with Google; it uses Google’s Web services API to
perform its searches.) If you’re more interested in news stories than
general Web content, check out the beta version of Google News Alerts
This advanced Google service (which is
affiliated with Google) will monitor up to 50 news queries per e-mail
address and send you information about news stories that match your
query. (Hint: Use the intitle: and source: syntax elements with Google News to limit the number of alerts you get.)
Google on the telephone? Yup. This service is brought to you by the folks at Google Labs
a place for experimental Google ideas
and features (which may come and go, so what’s there at this writing
might not be there when you decide to check it out).
With Google Voice Search (
Google Voice Search),
you dial the Voice Search phone number, speak your keywords, and then
click on the indicated link. Every time you say a new search term, the
results page will refresh with your new query (you must have JavaScript
enabled for this to work). Remember, this service is still in an
experimental phase, so don’t expect 100 percent success.
In 2002, Google released the Google API
(application programming interface), a way for programmers to access
Google’s search engine results without violating the Google Terms of
Service. A lot of people have created useful (and occasionally
not-so-useful but interesting) applications not available from Google
itself, such as Google Alert. For many applications, you’ll need an API
key, which is available free from CODE
www.google.com/apis
