How To: Use Google

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How To: Use Google

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On the World Wide Web, the most commonly used search engine surely has to be Google. The internet search giant has sustained the dot-com bust and a slew of competition and continued to be the most popular and widely used search vehicle in existence. This search tool is so well-known, in fact, that the company name is even used as a verb in everyday conversations.

As popular as Google is as a search engine, it is not widely known how to maximize the multiple search operators available or how to use Google properly. Here are a few of these operators, and a brief description of how to use them and how to use Google.

Not-so-common ground

Google is smart enough to know that it can omit certain words from your search phrase. Common words such as "the" and "where" are skipped when querying the Internet for your pages. Most of the time this works out fine, but what if those words are critical to your search? No problem; simply add a plus sign, preceded by a space, then add the normally omitted word. For example, if you want to search for U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name," you could enter " +where +the streets have no name," and make Bono proud.


"One of these words is not like the other…" That is, unless you use Google's synonym search. The idea here is that Google has an understanding of which words are alike. So, if you feel happy, but you also feel joyful, don't spend your time searching for both words. You can have it all with a single tilde (~) preceding your search word. For example, search for "~cowboy" and you will get hits on cowboys, rodeos and the Old West.

Either or neither

Many decisions in life are tougher than they should be. Let's say, for example, you can't decide between Zune and iPod. What you can do is search Google for both at the same time. Use the OR operator and search without worry. Simply place the operator between your two search words and your results will include both keywords. Looking for definitions? Wikipedia is normally at the top of the search results. Relax, Tony Romo — you can search for Jessica OR Carrie.

Domain lo mein

Let's say you have a thing for a particular group of websites or domains. You can't stand anyone but the sports writers at — no problem. You can search on articles about your favorite team without all of the clutter and noise by adding "" to your keyword search, replacing with your favorite domain name. Just in case you were curious, "chicken" pulls up a killer Beer Can Chicken recipe.

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