Extrinsically many things seem to be absolutely simple and clear, any problem seems to be trifling and any task – easily solvable. However, whenever one decides to do some work himself then he inevitably faces the whole range of hidden agendas and miscellaneous problems. Let’s say we need to search for something in the Internet. Seems like there’s nothing easier than that! Anyone can open a web browser and navigate to www.google.com and enjoy all the benefits of the search engine, however, often it happens so that not everybody manage to always find exactly what they’re looking for! This happens because any tool must be mastered and in some cases the most simple tool turns out to be much more powerful than everybody might think it is. Even Google!

Of course it’s very easy to find some information without using some special keywords or even without having any idea about regular expressions which are very important when obtaining search results. That’s why, when we search for something specific and there’s no much time for searching, it’s better to remember about the nuances of the search systems. In this article I would like to share some tips’n’trics that can make your search faster and more effective.

Logical «OR»

First thing you have to remember are the principles of keywords processing. By default the search system applies to logical “AND” operation. This means that when you enter “Time magazine” in the search field Google will find only those pages that will contain all of the words “Time”, “magazine”. The problem is that it is not always an essential condition. If for example we need to find pages containing at least one of the search words it is necessary to use “OR” operator.

Example: Times OR Newsweek magazine

Exact match

Sophisticated searching mechanisms of Google also take into consideration a morphology, various web-document structures and can’t assume that found pages will consider exactly the same phrase as in the search field. Words may be sparse around the page and even have a different form, which in most cases is very convenient. But what if we need an exact match? Let’s say what if we need to find lyrics of a song by some known sentence? In such case we must place the search string into quotes.

Example: “remember the time”

Plus marks between important words

To make an accent on one or several keywords place the “+” mark before them. This will help the search system “understand” which of the search words are most important and parse search result more precisely.

Example: Times +magazine

Getting rid of redundancies

Search results often contain some unnecessary information. To avoid wasting time for viewing it is advisable to apply search filters. It’s not that difficult to do it. You just need to determine which words you don’t want to be present in your search result and place “-” before them. In that case any web pages containing such words will be excluded from the search result.

Example: Time Magazine -war

Searching the specific website

Sometimes it happens that you are sure that the information you look for is available on a certain website. In such case willing or not you start thinking about more effective search, but not by that website searching facilities but by the more advanced Google mechanism. And it’s actually simple if you use site:somesite.com modifier.

Example: Conficker Worm Sparks Security Fears site:www.time.com

Searching document title

Much more effective search results are obtained if we place a keyword after “intitle:” modifier.

Example: intitle:Conficker site:www.time.com

Know your competitors

The best way to find friendly (or competing) sites is to ask Google about them. In reply to related:<Site URL> we’ll get sites with similar subject and content.

Example: In reply to «related:www.time.com» the search system will get back with links to Washington Post, Newsweek, FOXNews and others.

Who is referring to us?

It is possible to use Google also for checking popularity of any website. For example “link:<Site URL>” modifier will show all pages that refer to that website. And the logic is simple: more results = more popular the site is.

Example: link:www.time.com

Use synonyms

Google knows what synonyms are! If you want your result set contain not only pages containing only your keyword but also its synonyms, place a “~” sign before the keyword.

Example: google ~tips

How to find a specific document type

If you’re looking for a specific document type, don’t feel shy to tell Google about it. Whether that is a simple page or presentation, PDF or something else, you can find whatever it is if you use a “filetype:” modifier:

Example: “SQL-injection” filetype:pdf. The system will give back links to all PDF files containing SQL-injection in a filename.

Don’t forget about numerical ranges

Rarely used but very useful approach. Remember about “X..Y” modifier! There’re more than enough situations when you might take use of it!

Example: virus outbreak 2000..2002

Quick calculator

To make an arithmetical calculation (with any amount of operations and parentheses) in Google is very quick and simple!

Example 1: (31337-3.14)/87

Currency converter

Also, the search engine is very convenient as a currency converter!

Example 2: 1000 USD in EUR

Units converter

You can use Google to convert between many different units of measurement of height, weight, and volume among many others. Just enter your desired conversion into the search box and we’ll do the rest.

Example 1: 150000 bytes in megabytes

Example 2: 200 square meters in square feet

Terminology dictionary

To find quickly a definition of any term use “define:” modifier. The same result you will obtain if you use “what is” before the search term.

Example: define:DHCP

Checking for “dead” sites

Sometimes you wish to open a site and it is not available anymore. What may we do in such case? Several times Google helped me to retrieve information from the “dead” site which is stored in Google’s cache. To do that first type the website URL in the search field and click search. After that click on “Cache”

Translate a webpage

Google offers excellent service for translation of websites at http://translate.google.com. Of course it doesn’t translate a professional translator would but it will definitely give you a clue to the site content on your language. In case if you can’t understand the exact meaning of a certain part of the translated text you can place your mouse pointer above this text and you will see the original text in a pop-up note.

Auxiliary proxy server

Is many corporate networks system administrators block access to certain domains and set filters basing on content or lists of domains. This, however, can be easily bypassed by using a Google translator:

http://www.google.com/translate?langpair=en|en&u=www.time.com

In such case your browser will send request to the search system, which in most cases isn’t blocked and then get your content through this search engine. Note language pair parameters “en|en” which allows you to keep the original language intact or you may select another language: for example “en|it” to translate into Italian language.

Also, you may use the following string to get the same result in case if the above option won’t work for you. For example, some content filtering software categorizes the above link as Anonymizing Utility.

http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=en&js=n&u=www.time.com&sl=en&tl=it

Or just go to http://translate.google.com, enter URL in a textbox, select a language pair and click “Translate”.

File storage

Those who use Google Mail (www.gmail.com) can try a GMail Drive Shell Namespace Extension that creates a virtual file system around your Google Mail account, allowing you to use Gmail as a storage medium. After installing it your system will have one more disk identical to all others. The difference is that its files are saved in Internet.

Online photo album

Using a free account on picasaweb.google.com you can upload up to 1 Gb of photos and images. Not so bad for a service that offers not only convenient ways to upload the content but also to view it in an excellent way. Picasa, Google’s offline software will help you to quickly find, edit and upload your photos. Every time you start Picasa it automatically finds your photos and organizes them in virtual albums. To upload selected photos to internet it takes just a couple of clicks with the mouse.

Firefox and Google

Firefox users may try CustomizeGoogle plugin for Firefox Google which will make working with Google even more comfortable.

Here’s a list of features:

· Use Google Suggest (suggest words while you’re typing) · Add links to competitors · Rewrite links to point straight to the images in Google Images · Removes image copying restrictions in Google Book Search · Secure Gmail and Google Calendar, switch to https · Block Google Analytics cookies · Hide the Gmail spam counter · Make URL previews on sponsored links visible NEW! · Add favicons in the web search result NEW!

· Remove ads · Anonymize your Google userid · Add a result counter in search result · Filter spammy websites from search results · Add links to WayBack Machine (webpage history) · Remove click tracking · Add links from Google to your bookmark manager · Use a fixed font for Gmail mail bodies · Stream Google search result pages NEW! · Sticky Google Preferences NEW!

Other tools and utilities

GooglePreview	A Mozilla Firefox browser extension that inserts preview images (thumbnails) of web sites and popularity ranks into the Google and Yahoo search results pages. Thumbnails are created and provided by GooglePreview servers.
Google It!	Google It! is a simple, unobtrusive widget used to search the content of your clipboard automatically on Google. It’s a snap to setup and works on Windows Vista and XP running .NET Framework 3.0.
Google Search File Finder v1.0	Easy to use (but powerful) search program that helps find most types of media. Video, PDF, WAV, MP3… You decide!
Quick Google	With quick Google all you have to do is hit ctrl(control) twice and it will bring up a small windows to do a Google search in

Google offers a Google Desktop which you can download here.

Tip: Click twice quickly Ctrl key to open a quick Google search window

You can choose from these features during installation:

Desktop search
• Search your computer as easily as you search the web with Google
• Find and launch applications and files with just a few keystrokes

Sidebar with gadgets
• Add Google Gadgets to customize your desktop and iGoogle ^New!
• Get news, weather and more anywhere on your desktop

More Google gadgets are available here.

Google Business Solutions

• AdWords (Advertise your business on Google)
• Local Business Center (Make your business searchable on maps)
• Base: Product Search and more (Post all kinds of content to Google)
• Webmaster Central (Improve your site’s visibility)
• AdSense (Earn revenue from your website)
• Analytics (Analyze website traffic)
• Checkout (Sell online)
• Google Ad Manager (Manage your ad inventory)
• Website Optimizer (Build effective websites)
• Google Site Search (Add site search to your website)
• Google Friend Connect (Grow viral traffic to your site)
• Google enterprise search solutions (Search company information)
• Google Apps (Communicate and collaborate)
• Postini services (Secure your email)
• Google Geospatial Solutions (Visualize, analyze and share)

Google search experience

 

Everyday Essentials

Weather

To see the weather for many U.S. and worldwide cities, type "weather" followed by the city and state, U.S. zip code, or city and country.

Stock Quotes

To see current market data for a given company or fund, type the ticker symbol into the search box. On the results page, you can click the link to see more data from Google Finance.

Time

To see the time in many cities around the world, type in "time" and the name of the city.

Sports Scores

To see scores and schedules for sports teams type the team name or league name into the search box. This is enabled for many leagues including the National Basketball Association, National Football League, National Hockey League, and Major League Baseball.

Reference Tools

Calculator

To use Google’s built-in calculator function, simply enter the calculation you’d like done into the search box.

Book Search

If you’re looking for results from Google Book Search, you can enter the name of the author or book title into the search box and we’ll return any book content we have as part of your normal web results. You can click through on the record to view more detailed info about that author or title.

Earthquakes

To see information about recent earthquakes in a specific area type "earthquake" followed by the city and state or U.S. zip code. For recent earthquake activity around the world simply type "earthquake" in the search box.

Unit Conversion

You can use Google to convert between many different units of measurement of height, weight, and volume among many others. Just enter your desired conversion into the search box and we’ll do the rest.

Choosing Keywords

Synonym Search

If you want to search not only for your search term but also for its synonyms, place the tilde sign (~) immediately in front of your search term.

Dictionary Definitions

To see a definition for a word or phrase, simply type the word "define" then a space, then the word(s) you want defined. To see a list of different definitions from various online sources, you can type "define:" followed by a word or phrase. Note that the results will define the entire phrase.

Spell Checker

Google’s spell checking software automatically checks whether your query uses the most common spelling of a given word. If it thinks you’re likely to generate better results with an alternative spelling, it will ask “Did you mean: (more common spelling)?”. Click the suggested spelling to launch a Google search for that term.

Local Search

If you’re looking for a store, restaurant, or other local business you can search for the category of business and the location and we’ll return results right on the page, along with a map, reviews, and contact information.

Movie Showtimes

To find reviews and showtimes for movies playing near you, type "movies" or the name of a current film into the Google search box. If you’ve already saved your location on a previous search, the top search result will display showtimes for nearby theaters for the movie you’ve chosen.

Real Estate and Housing

To see home listings in a given area type "housing", "home", or "real estate" and the name of a city or a U.S. zip code into the Google search box and hit the Enter key or click the Google Search button. Clicking the "Go" button on the results page will display details of individual homes that Google has indexed.

Trip Planning

Airline Travel Info

To see flight status for arriving and departing U.S. flights, type in the name of the airline and the flight number into the search box. You can also see delays at a specific airport by typing in the name of the city or three-letter airport code followed by the word "airport".

Currency Conversion

To use our built-in currency converter, simply enter the conversion you’d like done into the Google search box and we’ll provide your answer directly on the results page.

Maps

Looking for a map? Type in the name or U.S. zip code of a location and the word "map" and we’ll return a map of that location. Clicking on the map will take you to a larger version on Google Maps.

Query Refinements

Plus (+) Operator

Google ignores common words and characters such as where, the, how, and other digits and letters that slow down your search without improving the results. If a common word is essential to getting the results you want, you can make sure we pay attention to it by putting a "+" sign in front of it.

Related Search

To search for web pages that have similar content to a given site, type "related:" followed by the website address into the Google search box.

Fill in the Blank

Sometimes the best way to ask a question is to get Google to ‘fill in the blank’ by adding an asterisk (*) at the part of the sentence or question that you want finished into the Google search box.

Search by Number

Package Tracking

You can track packages by typing the tracking number for your UPS, Fedex or USPS package directly into the search box. We’ll return results that include quick links to easily track the status of your shipment.

Patent Numbers

To search for U.S. patents, enter the word "patent" followed by the patent number into the Google search box and hit the Enter key or click the Google Search button.

Area Code

To see the geographical location for any U.S. telephone area code, just type the three-digit area code into the Google search box and hit the Enter key or click the Google Search button.