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December 03, 2006
Google Blog #4
Searching through Google
As we continue through our Google blogs, we felt it was important to go over some neat searching characteristics which people can use through Google and other search engines (you may have forgotten by now, but searching IS Google’s main function). We found two articles in particular which were very informative and interesting to go through:
“Ten Tips for Smarter Google Searches” from informit.com
and
“Advanced Google Tips” by Cyberwyre
Both of these articles explain searching tips which most people are aware of, such as: using the either / or function and searching for exact phrases by using quotation marks. However, there were numerous things which we found insightful and different that how we typically search. One of these things was the “site, related, and link” functions.
Essentially, these search functions heap you go through resources in a more efficient manner. If we were performing a college search and we liked the University of Michigan, we could use google and search “site:http://www.umich.edu” to find websites which only reside within this domain (128,000 total), “related:http://www.umich.edu” to find websites which are very similar to it (10 total), or “link:http://www.umich.edu” to find all websites which have the U of M homepage linked in their own websites (25,600 total).
What is the next step? Well, as it says in the Cyberwyre article, we can begin to combine searching methods. For instance, think about a person who is looking for information on College Football on ESPN.go.com. They can search:
“College Football” site:http://www.espn.go.com
What does this all mean? Well, if means Google and other search engines are constantly making information pathways stronger and stronger. Gone are the days of shelved information; today we can find information on the most miniscule subject from thousands of miles away in a matter of milliseconds. On top of that, our searching has become better-organized and more capable to find our desired subject.
The evolution of these search tools is what keeps the engines themselves fresh, and their core strong. Do you think Google still be Google without them?
We don't.
Posted by grantrob at December 3, 2006 11:36 PM