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Refining a Query

Refining a query means changing or adding to the set of search terms to do a better job of returning the pages you’re seeking. Successful researchers frequently enter several queries to find what they’re seeking.
The search boxes at the top and bottom of the results page show the query for the current results page. If […]

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This page was last modified on: Tuesday May 1, 2007

Other Search Forms

11. Alerts
Once you’ve refined your Advanced Search, you can watch for changes in the top 20 results by setting up Google Alerts. Google will find and deliver links to new web pages once a week, once a day, or as soon as Google finds them. Simply copy and paste your advanced search query into the search […]

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This page was last modified on: Tuesday May 1, 2007

Advanced Search Form

When you don’t find what you’re seeking, consider specifying more precisely what you want by using Google’s Advanced Search feature. Don’t be frightened by the name “Advanced Search”; it’s easy to use, and it allows you to select or exclude pages with more precision than Google’s standard search box. Click on the Advanced Search link […]

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This page was last modified on: Sunday August 10, 2008

The .. Operator

Specify that results contain numbers in a range by specifying two numbers, separated by two periods, with no spaces.

For example, specify that you are searching in the price range $250 to $1000 using the number range specification $250..$1000.

[ recumbent bicycle $250..$1000 ]

Find the year the Russian Revolution took place.

[ Russian Revolution 1800..2000 ]

tags (keywords): fine tune, narrowing search, numbers, […]

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This page was last modified on: Thursday July 12, 2007

The - Operator

Precede each term you do not want to appear in any result with a “–” sign.

To find pages without a particular term, put a – sign operator in front of the word in the query. The – sign indicates that you want to subtract or exclude pages that contain a specific term. Do not put […]

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This page was last modified on: Tuesday May 1, 2007

Quotation Marks Replace the + Operator

Google elimiated the + operator in October 2011 and expanded the capabilities of the quotation marks (” ”) operator. In addition to using this operator to search for an exact phrase, you can now add quotation marks around a single word to tell Google to match that word precisely. So, if in the past you would […]

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This page was last modified on: Sunday February 26, 2012

Quoted Phrases

To search for a phrase, a proper name, or a set of words in a specific order, put them in double quotes.

A query with terms in quotes finds pages containing the exact quoted phrase. For example, [ “Larry Page“ ] finds pages containing the phrase “Larry Page” exactly. So this query would find pages mentioning Google’s co-founder […]

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This page was last modified on: Tuesday May 1, 2007

Selecting Search Terms

The search terms you enter and the order in which you enter them affect both the order and pages that appear in your search results. In the examples below, click on the similar ways of specifying various searches and note how the results differ.
For simplicity sake, this tutorial uses square brackets to denote Google’s search […]

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This page was last modified on: Sunday February 26, 2012

More Relevant Results

Note: Nancy uses this page for presentations on her favorite Google features. You can find more information about these features in other sections of Google Guide.

Google returns pages that match variants of your search terms.

  

The query above finds pages that contain words that are similar to some or all of your search terms, e.g.,

“child,” “children,” or “children’s”
“bicycle,” “bicycles,” “bicycle’s,” “bicycling,” or “bicyclists”
“helmet” or “helmets”

Google calls this feature word variations or automatic stemming.

Want only Exact Matches?
Disable automatic stemming by surrounding […]

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This page was last modified on: Sunday February 26, 2012



For Google tips, tricks, & how Google works, visit Google Guide at www.GoogleGuide.com. Google Guide is neither affiliated with nor endorsed by Google.

Creative Commons

By Nancy Blachman and Jerry Peek who aren't Google employees. For permission to copy & create derivative works, visit Google Guide's Creative Commons License webpage.