Below are search operators to use to you get the most out of your search engine experience. Each one includes the exact operator and example of how to use it:
- Negative Keyword
-keyword
Printer -cartridge will show results for the word printer but not the word cartridge. - File Type
filetype:pdf
Cancer research filetype:pdf will show only results that you can download as a PDF flie. - Synonyms Match
~keyword
~car will search for "car" and synonyms of "car" - Phrase Match
"keyword keyword"
"chocolate chip cookies" will not get results for someone who wrote "chocolate mint chip cookies". Only those three words in that order. - OR
The | symbol
Jessica + Williams|Wiliams|William is a search for all of those possibilities (Jessica Williams OR Wiliams OR William) - Price Range
#…#
bedding $100…$200 will show search results for bedding between $100 and $200 dollars - All in Text
allintext:
allintext: chicken cilantro lime recipe will show search results for recipes with these three ingredients< - Search Within
site:
Animals site:www.facebook.com will show only animal related pages within Facebook. - Date Search
daterange:
Facebook daterange: 201108 will find only informationa nd news from August 2011. - Fill in the Blank
*
Obama signed the * bill this week will allow google to treat the star as a placeholder for any unknown term(s) and then find the best matches.
adapted from: http://www.amplify-interactive.com/blog/search-engines/advanced-google-search-tips/