Google is probably the best single search engine on the Web, has become the search engine of choice, and has become so popular in fact that it's name has become a verb. It pays, therefore, to know its secrets. Try the tips below for more efficient searching (based on an article in Yahoo Internet Life, June 2002).

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USE QUOTATION MARKS

When you know the exact name or phrase you're looking for, placing them in quotation marks narrows the search and excludes confusing one-word missed hits. Ex. "Tiger Woods". Without the quotation marks you would get 603,000 hits, many about animals and forests. The quotation marks narrow the hits to 484,000. Still too many. You may want to add another essential word.

 

INCLUDE/EXCLUDE WORDS

Use a plus sign in your search request when an everyday word is crucial to the search. Ex. Godfather +I. Use a minus sign if you want to exclude certain terms from the search. Ex. bas -fish (for musical bass, not fish bass.

 

SEARCH BY CATEGORY

Google has its own simple Web directory. Click the Directory tab, then drill down through the categories. This is useful when you are just starting your research. You may learn new terms and phrases to use in your searching.

 

SEARCH RELATED SITES

If you've found one site that is exactly what you are looking for, you can use the "related" command, coupled with the URL, to find more sites like it. Ex. related:www.tigerwoods.com. This works best with domain names; longer addresses sometimes confuse this feature.

 

SEARCH FROM THE INSIDE OUT

If you've found a site you need, chances are that some of the sites that link to it will also be useful to you. Enter link:www.tigerwoods.com, for example, and you'll get back 954 sites which link to it. (You can also use this technique to find out who, if anyone, is linking to your own personal site.)

 

SEARCH URL'S FOR A WORD OR PHRASE

Enter alinurl:tigerwoods to get a list of all the sites with "tigerwoods" in their URL (web address). Another ex.: allinurl:emilydickinson yields 699 web sites on Emily Dickinson.

 

SEARCH WITHIN A SITE

Want all the information about Tiger Woods featured at the site of his alma mater, Stanford? Enter tiger woods site:www.standford.edu and get every web page that mentions him. Another ex.: valve site:www.americanheart.org, for 101 entries about heart valve problems from the American Heart Association. This feature works best with domain names; longer addresses tend to come up with nothing. For instance colby glass site:www.accd.edu/pac/lrc/index.htm comes up with nothing. However, colby glass site:www.accd.edu yields 1,240 hits.

 

VIEW DEAD SITES

If you click on a link and get 404 (dead link notice), hit the Back button and look for the Cached link at the end of the Google description. This displays a stored version of the page. Keep in mind that the page will only be as current as the day when Google indexed it.

 

SEARCH FOR IMAGES

Click on the Images tab on Google's home page and type in "Tiger Woods" (with the quotes) to get hundreds of swingin' shots.

 

SEARCH GROUPS

The Internet is crowded with Usenet newsgroups in which discussions on every imaginable topic take place. Google will search a 20-year archive of 700 million newsgroup messages. Just click on the Groups tab on Google's homepage. Be warned: Newsgroups can be huge and weird... and a real time-waster... and remember that most of these people are not experts in the subject about which they are expressing opinions.

 

LOOK UP A PERSON

If you have a date with someone new, put the name in quotation marks and follow it with as many specifics relating to the person that you can think of. His company. Her hometown. His college. Her profession. Ex.: "John Smith" San Antonio Texas.

 

Google Yourself

Do a quick security check on your online identity. Search for your own name, of course, but also search for various permutations of your address. And try Googling your credit card numbers and phone number. If any of these things are popping up in weird places, take action.

 

USE GOOGLE AS A PHONE BOOK AND ATLAS

Enter a first and last name (not in quotes) and a city and state to get the address and phone number of anyone listed in the phone book. Ex.: John Smith San Antonio Texas. Click on the map links at the end of the description to generate a map to the address. You can also enter a phone number to find the related address. Also, you can enter a street address, city and state to get a map of the area. Also, enter the name of a business and its ZIP code to get its phone number, address, and web site.

 

USE GOOGLE AS A DICTIONARY

Any word in your search which is listed in a dictionary is underlined by Google in the blue strip above the links. Click on that word and you'll get a definition, and a spelling correction if needed.

 

CORRECTING NEAR MISSES

If you misspell your search term, Google will dutifully perform a search... but if possible it will also suggest a more popular version. If you search for serendipety, it will respond, before the links, with the statement Did you mean: serendipity.

 

GET STOCK QUOTES

To use Google to get stock and mutual fund information, just enter one or more NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX, or mutual fund ticker symbols, or the name of a corporation traded on one of the stock indices. If Google recognizes your query as a stock or mutual fund, it will return a link that leads directly to stock and mutual fund information from high quality financial information providers. Ex.: SUNW. The first link shown in the results is "Show Stock Quotes."