Technology for the Masses

Have you ever wanted to get creative with searching through Google?  Most people in general only type in that basic search criteria.  Google is a lot more advanced then simple querying and offers several other options.  In this article, I’ll post some tips and continue to update them (hopefully with your recommendations as well!)

What is an Operator?

An operator is is a special “power” word that Google recognizes and uses them to open up more search options.  Operators are something like: AND, OR, “”, info, site, etc.  I’ll get into some more specifics below – so hang on.

What is a search string or search term?

A search string is anything that you put in the search box and Google search for.

Basics:

• AND Operator: Google when searching a string of keywords or terms always uses searches using AND – which means that if you type in: black scooter – Google searches for all references to BLACK and SCOOTER together
• OR Operator: When you want to search for only BLACK or WHITE scooters it’s very easy,  you type in: BLACK or WHITE scooter
• Specific Operator:  When you have specific search terms that can not be used with AND / OR operators you type: “mary had a little lamb” – this is search for this exact string.

How to Search within a Single Website:

In the Google Search Box type:  <search word> site:www.techforthemasses.net

How to Search for Related Websites: This will bring up all sites that are related to this domain

In the Google Search Box type: related:www.techforthemasses.net

How to get basic information about a Website:

In the Google Search Box type: info:www.techforthemasses.net

How to do a Wikipedia search for a term:

In the Google Search box type: wiki:<search term>

How to get a Word Definition:

In the Google Search Box type: define: <term>

How to use Wildcards:  Meaning a random word/number/character between two other terms

In the Google Search Box type: <term> * <term>

Use Google as a quick-calculator:

• Multiply: <number> * <number>
• Add: <number> + <number>
• Subtract: <number>-<number>
• Divide: <number> / <number>
• Percentage: 40% of <number>

Further Information:

Here are some links from Google that will explain further and give a few advanced options as well…

• Operators for Google Search
• Basics of Search
• Advanced Search

User / Subscriber Recommendations:

Do any of you have any useful Google search tricks or operators?  Please let me know!

Related posts:

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2. Cloud Computing Nirvana
3. Google Chrome Goodness
4. Buying a new computer and what you *think* you need…
5. Navigating Tech Terminology