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Search Tricks
Google – A name all of us type absent-mindedly into our browsers when we need to check our internet connection; a search engine so big that it has been inducted into the Oxford dictionary; a name none of us is unfamiliar with.
You use Google almost every single day. It has the answers to all your questions. Since it just might be your homepage (it is mine!), you would probably know all there is to know about it too, right?
Well, as they say, there is always room for knowledge!
Let us help you to know more about how to navigate through the world’s largest search engine better.
| Need | Solution | Example |
| Exact Phrase | Put phrase within double quotes | “Back to the summer of ‘69” |
| Range | Use ‘…’ | Macbook 50000..70000 INR |
| Exclude words | Put a – (minus) sign in front of word you want to exclude | Macbook –Air |
| Proximity – given words should be near to each other in content | Use ‘AROUND(XX)’ between the keywords where XX is the maximum acceptable distance between the keywords in terms of number of words | Macbook AROUND(10) durable |
| Particular website | Use ‘site:’ | site:Wikipedia.org India |
| File format | Use ‘filetype:doc’ or whatever extension is desired | Macbook Air filetype:pptx |
| Missing a word | Use * (asterisk) when you don’t know a word in a phrase | a bird in hand is worth * in the bush |
| Keywords on a website | Use ‘site:twitter.com’ or whatever website you want after the keyword | Troll site:Twitter.com |
| Images | Save the image, go to Google Images, look for it using the camera button |
Now that we have covered some of the essentials, let’s have some fun!
Picture this.
You are on a diet and can’t decide between French fries and garlic bread along with your pizza (all of us have cheated on our diets, that’s ok!).
You could ask Google for “French fries vs garlic bread” and it will do a side-by-side nutritional value comparison for you!
Once you have decided, trying to find a restaurant in your locality will become much easier if you add your pincode to it. (“Pizza joints in 112233”)
But what if your friend and you have to decide who will pay for the garlic bread, have to flip a coin for it but don’t have one? Just go to Google, click on the mic on the search bar and say “heads or tails” or “flip a coin”.
Now that you’re full, how about reading something romantic? Again press the mic icon on the search bar, and say “give me a love quote” or “I love you”.
Oh but you wouldn’t want anyone to know that you googled love quotes (see, I used it as a verb!), right? Go to http://startpage.com/ which shows results from Google without your location or IP being tracked.
But what is your IP address? Find out by typing ‘IP address’ in Google.
Want to know about a new app on your iOS? Just search for the app name in Google, click on More, then Apps.
What if you are interested in only the latest results, those posted, say, within the last 45 mins? Hmm, this is slightly tricky but this is how that can be done. Once you have typed what you are looking for, click on Search. After the result page is loaded, go to where the page URL is and, without spaces and without quotes, add “&tbs=qdr:XN”, where X is years, m is months, d is days, h is hours, n is minutes and s is seconds. Do not confuse n with N; N is the number. So, for the results in the last 45 mins, add “&tbs=qdr:n45” to the address bar.
If you are looking for an image and are particular about the size, colour, type, time, copyright etc., search for your desired image in Google Images and go to Search Tools right under the search bar.
Confused about how to read 235720749 in number terms? Ask Google by searching for the number followed by ‘in English’.
Want to know your flight status? Simple search for your airlines names followed by the flight number.
What to know if downloading something from a particular website is safe or not? Go to http://www.google.com/transparencyreport/safebrowsing/diagnostic/.
For all you online shopping addicts, find a quick summary of your recent orders across all websites by searching for ‘My purchases’.
Want your own Google doodle in your name? Search for Google Gothic and click on ‘I’m feeling lucky’.
Type ‘I’m feeling curious’ or ‘fun facts’ to learn some new facts without leaving your Google homepage.
So you’ve done all the above and are just looking to pass time. You would already know that you can play Atari Breakout on Google by searching for it on Google images. For some more fun, go to Google and click on ‘I’m feeling lucky’ to go through their doodle collection. Or type Google Pacman or Zerg Rush or Google Gravity (and click on ‘I’m feeling lucky’)! Enjoy!
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