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| Interpreting Your Query |
Understanding how Google treats your search terms will help you devise effective queries and revise ineffective ones.
Google returns only pages that match all your search terms.
A search for [ compact fold-up bicycle ] finds pages containing the words "compact" and "fold-up" and "bicycle." Because you don't need to include the word AND between your terms, this notation is called an implicit AND.
Because of implicit AND, you can focus your query by adding more terms.
[ compact lightweight fold-up bicycle ]
Note: If you want pages containing any (instead of all) of your search terms, use the OR operator, which is described in the next section Crafting Your Query.
Note: Google sometimes returns pages that don't contain your query terms, as you can see in the example in the Cached Pages section in Part II. Google returns pages in which your query terms are included in the link text (interpreted as a description) to another page or place on the page, more commonly referred to as the anchor text of a link pointing to the page.
Google returns pages that match your search terms exactly.
In his book Internet Research, Second Edition (McFarland & Company, 2001), Ned Fielden notes "Google simply matches strings of characters together and doesn't currently base inferences on uses of the language. Although this searching method has some drawbacks, it harnesses one of the fabulous powers of computers, [the ability] to sift through enormous heaps of data quickly and accurately."
Note: There are exceptions when Google finds pages that include synonyms of your search terms, which are displayed in a boldface typeface in Google's snippet.
If you search for ... Google won't find ... cheap inexpensive tv television effects influences children kids car automobile Calif OR CA California
If you search for ... Google finds ... NYC New York City SF San Francisco GNP Gross National Product
Google returns pages that match variants of your search terms.
The query [ child bicycle helmet ] 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," and "helmet" or "helmets." Google calls this feature word variations or automatic stemming. Stemming is a technique to search on the stem or root of a word that can have multiple endings.
If you only want to search for pages that contain some term(s) exactly, precede each such term with a plus sign (+) or enclose more than one term in quotes (" ").
Google doesn't match variants when your query consists of a single term.
Note: When you want synonyms or variants that Google doesn't find, consider using either the OR or tilde operator, which is described in the next section Crafting Your Query.
Google ignores some common words called "stop words," e.g., the, on, where, how, de, la, as well as certain single digits and single letters.
[ lyrics to the Dixie Chicks' songs ]
Note: Use the + operator or enclose more than one term in quotes (" ") to force Google to include terms it would otherwise ignore. I describe these basic operators and others in the next section, Crafting Your Query.
If your query consists only of common words that Google normally ignores, Google will search for pages that match all the terms.
[ the who ]
Note: Find more pages mentioning the rock band The Who by entering [ "the who" ], a notation you'll learn about in the next section Crafting Your Query.
Google limits queries to 32 words.
The limit was previously 10 words, as shown in the following image.
The following query finds sites that have included Google Guide's description of how Google works.
Google favors results that have your search terms near each other.
Google considers the proximity of your search terms within a page. So the query [ snake grass ] finds pages about a plant of that name, while [ snake in the grass ] tends to emphasize pages about sneaky people. Although Google ignores the words "in" and "the," (these are stop words), Google gives higher priority to pages in which "snake" and "grass" are separated by two words.
[ snake grass ]
[ snake
in the grass ]
Google gives higher priority to pages that have the terms in the same order as in your query.
[ New
York library ]
[ new
library of York ]
Google is NOT case sensitive; it shows both upper- and lowercase results.
Ignoring case distinctions increases the number of results Google finds. A search for [ Red Cross ] finds pages containing "Red Cross," "red cross," or "RED CROSS."
[ Red Cross ], [ red cross ], and [ RED CROSS ] return the same results.
There is no way to instruct Google to pay attention to case distinctions, e.g., you can't tell Google to find only occurrences of "Red Cross" where the first letter of each word is capitalized.
Note: The words "OR" and "AND" have special meanings if entered in uppercase letters.
Google ignores some punctuation and special characters, including ! ? , . ; [ ] @ / # < > .
[ Dr. Ruth ] returns the same results as [ Dr Ruth ]
What if you're seeking information that includes punctuation that Google ignores, e.g., an email address? Just enter the whole thing including the punctuation.
[ info@amazon.com ]
Be aware that web pages sometimes camouflage email addresses to make collecting such information difficult for spammers. For example, on some sites you'll find the @ sign in an email address replaced with the word "at."
Now we'll look at some special characters that Google doesn't ignore.
[ part-time
] matches "part-time," "part time," and "parttime"
[ part time
] matches "part-time" and "part time", but
[ "part time"
]
(with quotes)
is better for space-separated words
[ e-mail ] matches
"e-mail," "email," and "e mail"
[ email ] matches
"email"
Note: Google may search for variations of your query terms that are included in the online dictionary that Google uses.
[ non profit ] matches "non-profit," "nonprofit," and "non profit"
If you aren't sure whether a word is hyphenated, go ahead and search for it with a hyphen.
The following table summarizes how Google interprets your query.
Search Behaviors Descriptions Implicit AND Google returns pages that match all your search terms. Because you don't need to include the logical operator AND between your terms, this notation is called an implicit AND. Exact Matching Google returns pages that match your search terms exactly. Word Variation
Automatic Stemming Google returns pages that match variants of your search terms. Common-Word Exclusion Google ignores some common words called "stop words," e.g., the, on, where, and how. Stop words tend to slow down searches without improving results. 32-Word Limit Google limits queries to 32 words. Term Proximity Google gives more priority to pages that have search terms near each other. Term Order Google gives more priority to pages that have search terms in the same order as the query. Case Insensitivity Google is case-insensitive; it shows both upper- and lowercase results. Ignoring Punctuation Google ignores most punctuation and special characters including , . ; ? [ ] ( ) @ / * < >
Next we'll look at how to fine-tune your query.
For more information on the basics of Google search, visit www.google.com/help/basics.html.
| [ year-end ] | year-end | year end | yearend |
| [ year end ] | year-end | year end | yearend |
| [ yearend ] | year-end | year end | yearend |
| [ discounted designer linens ] |
| [ discount designer linen ] |
| [ designer linen discount ] |
| [ linen designer discount ] |
| [ linen discounted design ] |
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For Google tips, tricks, & how Google works, visit
Google Guide at classic.GoogleGuide.com. 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. |