GOOGLE TIPS and TRICKS
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Multiple search
terms are processed as an AND operation by default. Phrase matches
are ranked higher
Boolean Searching:
Google uses an automatic Boolean AND between terms and has slowly
been moving towards more Boolean support; however, it does not
yet support the AND operator, NOT operator, or full Boolean
searching with the ability to nest operators. In Feb. 1999,
Google added the - symbol to perform a NOT function. In Oct.
2000, they added the ability to use an OR (which must be in
upper case) to do some Boolean OR operations. See the Boolean
Searching on Google page for more details on how to get Google
to do certain kinds of Boolean searches.
The + used to be able to be used to require
a term, but since the default operation was AND, the + was never
really needed and for a while caused the following message to
appear:
Google always searches for pages containing all the words in
your query, so you do not need to use + in front of words.
However, the + can be used for forcing a search on stop words.
Proximity Searching:
In Feb. 1999, Google added phrase searching designated in the
usual manner by enclosing the phrase in "double quotes."
Google also detects phrase matches even when the quotes are
not used and usually ranks phrase matches higher. No other proximity
searching is available.
Truncation:
No truncation is available nor is there any automatic plural
searching, word stemming, or other related features. However,
within phrases, there is a trick which can be used for a wildcard
word. Use an asterisk * within a phrase search to match any
word in that position. So, for example, to find "a little
neglect may breed mischief" when you are not sure of the
second to last word, search "a little neglect may * mischief".
This is the only way Google supports a wildcard symbol.
Case Sensitivity:
Google has no case sensitive searching. Using either lower or
upper case results in the same hits.
Field Searching:
Google offers several field searches connected with entering
URLs. In the December 2000 revision of its advanced search form,
it add several title and URL field searches. Note
that most field searching cannot be combined with other query
words. In others words, a search entered such as uniqueword
link:name.com will only be processed as if only the field search
was present as in link:name.com. The uniqueword is ignored.
One exception is the site: limit which cannot be used alone
and must have another search term. The newest exceptions are
the intitle: and inurl: fields which can be combined with other
search terms.
intitle:
Finds pages that have the term(s) in the HTML title element.
Can be combined with other search terms. intitle:search engines.
inurl:
Finds pages that have the term(s) somewhere in the URL (host
name, path, or filename). Can be combined with other search
terms. inurl:searchenginewatch.
allintitle: Finds pages that have
the term(s) in the HTML title element. allintitle:search engines.
link: Finds pages which contain
hypertext links to the exact specified URL. link:notess.com/search
finds pages with links to this site.
allinurl: Finds pages that have
the term(s) somewhere in the URL (host name, path, or filename).
allinurl:searchenginewatch.
site: Finds pages from the designated
Web site. Paths and file names cannot be included. An additional
search term must be used. Try a term from the domain name for
the most comprehensive results. notess site:notess.com finds
how many pages Google has index or listed. As of April 2000,
this was an undocumented search feature.
allinanchor: Finds pages that have
the term(s) somewhere in the links to the page
related: Invokes GoogleScout to
find other pages similar in linkage patterns to the given URL
and at a similar hierarchical level. The URL must be exact.
In other works related:notess.com and related:www.notess.com
find different results.
flink: Used to finds pages linked
from the given URL. No longer working as of Oct. 30, 1999. flink:notess.com/search
Before the official
release in Sept. 1999, clicking the small bar graph  at
the beginning of a displayed hit would automatically run a link:
search, but that graphic disappeared with the official launch.
Another field search which can be used is related:[URL] which
invokes GoogleScout to find other pages similar in linkage patterns
to the given URL.
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