Tag Archive for: google tips and tricks

Google Tips and Tricks (Part 2)

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Searching on Google.

Sometimes, when we search online, it can be a pain; our search may be futile and we cannot seem to find what we are looking for. If you wish to be an expert Googler, be sure to carefully follow this guide. Take note of all the 8 tricks mentioned, or you may bookmark this page. If you find an item confusing and difficult to follow, click on the designated search example.

  • Finding news in a particular location. If you are searching for news related to a specific place, you can use the location: command to search Google for stories coming from that location.
  • Looking for specific documents. If you are searching to find results that are of a distinct file type, you can use the search filter filetype:. For example, you might want to find only PDF files related to the detailed history of Canada.
  • Exclude an exact term. If you want to search the web for cake recipes, but you want to exclude recipes that contain dairy products like eggs. In order to do this, add a – (minus sign) before the term you want to exclude in the search.
  • Searching a particular website. Even if a certain website does not have a search box, you can still search a website by asking Google’s help.  This is helpful for you when you forgot the exact page link of a website, and only remember the main page. You can use the site: modifier, and follow the format listed below.
  • Looking for the specific phrase. If you want your search results to be more definitive, you need to add quotation marks with your phrase or keywords. This is a great help when your keywords are too common and generic. It will help you narrow your results once quotation marks are added. You can follow the format below and put your search terms inside the quotation marks.
  • Similar words and terms. To search for similar terms, you have to use the ~ symbol before the keyword. Let’s say you want to search for recipes, but then, you also want dessert recipes that related to Halloween. So, you will search for Halloween plus the tilde symbol and the keyword recipes.
  • Finding an exact text in a page. If you do not know what you are searching for, and you only have certain keywords in mind, this trick is really useful. The allintext: filter will help you find those keywords, and they do not have to be necessarily beside each other.
  • Searching the URL. If you want to find web pages that mentions an exact phrase in the URL, you just have to type allinurl: and include your keywords.

Google has features that we all thought never existed. These tricks are just one of many and they will surely make our lives easier. Want more tricks? Check  the tips on viewing the cached version of a website, and etc.

Google Tips and Tricks (Part 1)

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Google Search Engine on Macbook ProWho hasn’t relied on Google to search for everything and anything? We are all guilty! There are things you might not know about the popular search engine. Have you ever tried searching for images using a specific image? Discover useful Google search tricks that you may find helpful and interesting.

  • Searching using an image. We usually type keywords when we search on Google. Try looking up for an image using another image. Seems confusing? Simply to go to images.google.com and instead of typing keywords in the search box, you have to click on the camera button. You can upload the photo or paste the URL of the photo. Things are easier if you are using Google Chrome browser. When you right click an image in Chrome, select the Search Google for this image option. Then, Google will show you results pertaining to that photo. This will come in handy when you wish to find duplicated photos. However, it is quite unreliable as Google will also display similar images. Finding the exact image may be harder than expected, but it will still give you great leads.
  • View the cached version of a website. Google’s most unique and helpful feature is that you can now view the previous versions of a website. Take a look at your Google search results carefully, and notice the ▼ symbol beside the website links. You can click green pointing-down arrow, and choose the cached option. After, you will be redirected to the website’s last saved version. This feature is helpful when there are network problems, and the live version of the website is currently unavailable. There’s no need to worry when a website is offline because you can access its cached version using Google’s helpful tool.
  • Built-in dictionary. There’s no need to Google for various online dictionaries because Google will help you instead. Just type define:  plus the word you want to search and Google will look for the word’s definition. Easy, right? Aside from the definition, you can also view its synonyms and translate it into another language if you wish. You can view this tutorial to learn more. Ever since, Google has been your research companion and now, it’s making your life easier because of its dictionary function.
  • Casual games. Did you know that there a few fun games hidden on Google? Game number one is called Atari Breakout. To activate the hidden game, you have to go to images.google.com  and type in the words “Atari Breakout”. After, the image search results will then morph into a colorful game board. If you do not like it,  game number two is Pac-Man. It is Google’s first ever playable doodle. Here’s a tip for you: if you click Insert Coin multiple times,  Ms. Pac-Man will join the game and you can control her with the WASD keys. Game number three is called Zerg Rush. The objective of this game is to shoot before the zeroes attack and destroy your Google search results. In order to play this game, just go to the Google and type in zerg rush.