I write about topics that interest me because writing imposes a discipline that fills gaps in my understanding of a subject. When I want to know more about whatever captures my interest I turn to Google to fill the void. The deeper I dig into a subject, the more complex become the online searches and the more expert I become at finding answers. In this post, I will share a few of the most useful hidden search tools I use.
You likely know the basic search tools to: enclose a phrase in quotes to treat it as if it were a single word ("flu symptoms"), exclude a word or phrase with a minus sign ("flu symptoms" - headache), and select categories of results (below a search result, you select one of, all, images, videos, etc.). But there are literally dozens of hidden search tools that are rarely used by the average person. The complete list is overwhelming so I will limit this narrative to a few buried tools I find most useful and will post a link to the most comprehensive list I have found at the end.
allintext: precede a search with this filter to limit a search to a series of words or phrases that all must appear (not necessarily in order) in the search results. For example, search using
allintext: equal liberty government military "unalienable rights"
returns results limited to information about, and the text of, the Declaration of Independence.
~ (tilde) placed in front of a word includes synonyms for the word in the search results.
children with ~exceptional abilities will return results containing the word exceptional plus results containing synonyms such as extraordinary.
Note: My Chromebook lacks a hidden symbol keyboard so entering the symbol requires a Unicode. If you are using a Chromebook go to the table of Unicodes and select the ~ in the table. A box will pop up with an option to copy and paste the symbol instead of typing the Unicode for it. All the tildes used here were entered by using the copy and paste from the pop-up.
* (asterisk) in place of a missing word will return search results that fill in likely candidates the missing word. This is often used if you remember a title, song lyrics, etc. but can't remember a missing word. The asterisk can be used with or without quotes around a phrase.
Nationalism is an * sickness
returns "Nationalism is an infantile sickness" which is a portion of a quote by Albert Einstein. The entire quote is returned in the search result.
allintitle: finds titles that include all the words listed.
allintitle: tariff trade war
returns "Aug 2, 2018 - Trump threatens to double down on his trade war with China — and the fight could be about to get ugly", the title of an article in businessinsider.com.
site:(your chosen site) restricts a search to a specific website.
site:rickemmerson.com richest man in history
returns the title to one of my early blog postings - "Rick's Blog: Random Musings: The Richest Man in World History".
related:(your chosen site) searches websites related to (but excluding) the one in your search.
related:snopes.com never enter your credit card number in an http website
will return results from sites other than snopes.com (a fact-checking website). Without the "related:" filter, the first-listed result is snopes.com. with the filter, Snopes is dropped and the first-listed result is from TruthorFiction.com, another fact-checking website. I use this filter most frequently when I want alternative perspectives on a subject or alternative answers to a question.
inurl:(your chosen url) limits a search to a particular website.
inurl:amazon.com outdoor lighting
returns all outdoor lighting for sale limited to amazon.com. I use this filter mostly to search within selected publications, university or research organization websites.
No one knows exactly how many filters and search tricks Google has but the number exceeds 100, and more are being added and deleted all the time. Like I, you are likely to find a number of them to be most useful in your searches. When you find one you like, use it often until it becomes familiar enough to automatically come to mind when it is useful.
Want more? I use Google's advanced search template most frequently to limit searches to recently updated information but it has some useful features that save time and simplify targeted searches. You can explore here a comprehensive list of advanced search tricks. I use Google Scholar to verify technical information likely to be published in a professional journal or working paper. If I need to delve deep into the "invisible" web to find information hidden behind a paywall requiring a subscription, here are many free sites that search journals, research papers, and legal cases otherwise not scanned by basic search engines. Enjoy learning more about anything you ponder!
Note: frequent use of some of the search tricks can generate a notice that unusual traffic is coming from your computer, especially if you are searching images, videos, books, URLs and other sites that robots use to scavenge from the Internet. If this happens to you, a captcha will be offered that will distinguish you from a robot. Take time to complete the instructions on the captcha and you can continue uninterrupted. Happy searching!