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Google ignores some punctuation and special
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Punctuation is not as important as your search terms,
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Characters Ignored
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How to SearchGoogle For Overall Efficiency
- 1. How to Search Google Likea Librarian
- 2. All searchterms count; for example, “compact fold-up bicycle” A search in Google will find all pages containing the words “compact” and “fold-up” and “bicycle”. You don’t need to include the word “and” in-between your search terms; when searching Google the “and” is implied, this is called an “implicit and”. Sometimes Google will pull up pages that do not contain your search terms; these pages are brought up because your search terms are included in the linked text to another page. All Search Terms Count
- 3. “Google simplymatches strings of characters together and doesn’t currently base inferences on uses of the language. Although this method has some drawbacks, it harnesses one of the fabulous powers of computers, the ability to shift through enormous heaps of data quickly and accurately” Ned Frelden (Internet Research, 2nd ed). Search Terms Match Up Exactly
- 4. If you SearchGoogle Won’t Find Cheap Inexpensive TV Television Effects Influences Children Kids Car Automobile Search Terms Match Up Exactly
- 5. However Googlewill find pages that include synonyms, for example Search Terms Match Up Exactly If you Search Google Finds NYC New York City SF San Francisco
- 6. Google willautomatically find pages that contain words that are similar to some or all of your search terms, for example Similar Words Match If you Search Google will Match Child Child Children Children’s Bicycle Bicycle Bicycles Bicycle’s Bicycling Bicyclists
- 7. Google callsthis function “word variations” or “automatic stemming”. Stemming is a technique to search on the stem or root of a word that has multiple endings. If you want to only search for pages that contain the search term or terms exactly, you will need to put quotations marks around the word or words, for example “child” and “how to bake an apple pie”. Similar Words Match
- 8. Some commonwords are considered “stop words” in Google; stop words generally don’t add meaning to the search terms. Stop words are for example; the, on, where, how, de, la and certain single digits and letters. If you are using Google to search for, What to read for a London tourist. Because this search includes stop words, Google will only look for pages that contain “read” and “London tourist”. If you want Google to search all of your terms you will need to surround your search phrase with quotation marks. Stop Words
- 9. Google limitssearch queries to 32 words. Google will indicate a message below the search box if your search exceeds the 32-word limit; this limit does not apply to stop words. Also please note it does not apply to search operators and indicators. Word Limit
- 10. Google tendsto favor pages that have your search terms near each other; normally this proximity will be within a page. For example the search for “snake grass” will pull up pages about a plant. If you search for a “snake in the grass” Google tends to pull up pages about sneaky people. Although “in” and “the” are stop words; Google will actually pull up pages in which snake and grass are separated by at least two words. Terms Nearby
- 11. Google tendsto pull up pages that have terms in the same order as your query. Terms in Order
- 12. Google isnot case-sensitive, it will pull up results which are both upper and lower case. The only words that need to be upper case are your search operators OR and AND. Not Case-Sensitive
- 13. Google ignoressome punctuation and special characters; for example Punctuation is not as important as your search terms, however there exceptions such as C++. Characters Ignored ! ] ? @ , / . $ ; < [ >
- 14. Google willmatch words with an apostrophe with words with an apostrophe. Apostrophes If you Search Google will Find Google Won’t Find We’re We’re Were Were Were We’re
- 15. Because peoplevary on how they enter hyphenated words Google will search both hyphen and spaced words. For example Hyphenated Terms If you Search Google will Find Part-time Part-time Parttime Part time
- 16. Quoted Phrases To search for a phrase, a proper name, or a set of words in a specific order you need to put them in double quotes. Using quotes ensure that you will be pulling up pages containing the exact quoted phrase. Instructors can use quoted phrases to detect plagiarism by entering the exact phrase from a student’s paper into the search box with quotations surrounding it. Crafting your Query with Special Characters Use Quotes for For Example Speech search syntax “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all me are created equal” Martin Luther King Speech. Proper names “Lucille Ball” Pages containing lists “Best book club books” Common words that are normally ignored “To be or not to be” To stop automatic stemming “Favorite book”
- 17. The –Operator Precede each word you don’t want to appear in any result with a “-” sign. Do not insert a space between the “-” and the word you want to exclude. Crafting your Query with Special Characters If you Search Google Won’t Find Dolphins -Football Pages on the Dolphins Football team
- 18. The ~Operator Find synonyms by preceding the term with a “~”, which is known as the tilde or synonym operator. The “~” operator takes the word immediately following it and searches both that specific word or the word’s synonyms. Crafting your Query with Special Characters If you Search Google will Find ~inexpensive Inexpensive Cheap Affordable Low Cost
- 19. The ORor “|” Operator If you want Google to pull up pages containing any instead of all of your search terms, use the OR or “|” operator. The OR or “|” operator applies to the search terms immediately adjacent to it. The OR needs to be in upper case, if not Google will treat it as a search term not as an operator. Crafting your Query with Special Characters For example Tahiti OR Hawaii Tahiti|Hawaii
- 20. The ..Operator Specify that results contain numbers in a range by specifying two numbers, separated by two periods, with no spaces. Crafting your Query with Special Characters For Example Recumbent bicycle $250..$1000 Russian Revolution 1800..2000
- 21. The *Operator Use of the “*” character, known as a wildcard. The “*” operator is used to match one or more words in a phrase. Google treats this as a place holder for a word or more then one word. Crafting your Query with Special Characters If you Search Google will Find “Google * my life” Pages that contain a phrase that starts with Google and ends with my life. “Google ruined my life” “Google runs my life” “Google is my life”
- 22. When youdon’t find what you are looking for in Google’s basic search, try using the Advanced Search option. The advanced search will allow you to tell Google specifically what you are looking for; it will allow you to select or exclude pages with more precision than Google’s basic search box. Advanced Search