Alright, call me ignorant, but how do you "Google"? (1 Viewer)

[Inspector Hammer!]

I can't hold it in any longer and so I must ask, how do you Google?

All over the web I see that Googling people and things is very popular but I admit that I have no clue what they mean or how to do it. It's talked about as if it isn't just an ordinary search engine but rather this way of obtaining info on everything about a person or thing.

I tried Googling someone and nothing extraordinary happened, I just got a hundred pages of results with that persons name in them, same as if I tried the same thing with Yahoo or any other search engine out there, nothing special.

Sometimes in threads about movies i'll see someone say something like "I Googled the plot and this is the movie..." What do they mean? Where did they type in the plot? I'm lost.

What am I doing wrong? How do you Google? I must know, please instruct me in the ways of the Google, if I am to go with you to Alderan.

Thanks.

 

[Steve Felix]

You're not missing anything -- to Google is to search. I'd say the verb refers mostly to those of us who are good at picking words and phrases that will ferret out lots of relevant info.

To Google a plot one would use words or phrases (in quotes) that were as long and specific as possible but almost unavoidable in discussing it.

If I were looking for Cat People but only dimly remembered it I'd put into Google: zoo cat movie wife affair. I just tried this and I got it on the second result.

 

[Jerry Almeida]

Here's what I get when I Google "John Williamson".




Extraordinary

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

Thanks, guy's lol.

 

[Wendy_L]

I'm one of those people that never seem to type in the "right" keywords. It frustrates the hell out of me!

 

[Andrew Pratt]

zoo cat movie wife affair would work best. If there's words that you know that need to be include put a + sign in front of it...i.e.

zoo +cat +movie wife affair

If you do a search and it keeps coming up with a list of sites about lions in zoo's consider adding -lion to the list to filter those sites out.

 

[Scott Dautel]

The extent of my knowledge in boolean search is pretty minimal ... but maybe someone will gain from my lack of depth.

Words separated by spaces searches for Word#1 as highest priority ... decreasing priority down the list

Words in quotes will treat word clusters as one. i.e "Art of War" will hit the book/film, while ... ** war art ** will more likely get you paintings depicting battle scenes.

Even without quotes, Google generally gives a higher priority to hits where your search words fall in closer proximity to one another on the target page

You can also use + and -.
+war means the word war MUST be included in all hits
-war means ... do not return any hits that include the word "war"

If you google a person ... you need to put their name in quotes.

Example --> "Mike Douglas" +"talk show" -actor
this is going to get you references to the 70's era talk show host and NOT the movie actor

 

[Joseph Bolus]

Here's a list of some useful "Google-isms":

"Movie: Movie Name" - Get multiple on-line reviews of the pertinent movie.

"DVD: Movie Name" - Reviews of the DVD.

"Weather: City, State Abbreviation" - Instant five day capsule weather forecast.

Need a Phone Number?
Type in the Name and Address of the individual and/or business.

And don't forget to download the free "Google Search Bar" (already built-in to Firefox) so you don't have to go to "Google" in order to "Google"!

 

[Linda Thompson]

Check out these Google tips and tricks:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/25/te...0ad0e0&ei=5070

Yahoo hacks:

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-10165_7...ml?tag=nl.e404

And, if you haven't already, try dogpile.com.

 

[Wendy_L]

Thanks guys! The +/- thing is something I did not know. I will definitely use those tricks next time and I'm definitely gonna check out those websites that Linda provided. Thank you!!

 

[Holadem]

I routinely use "" and +. I find they are absolutely essential. I haven't had much use for anything else.

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H

 

[Citizen87645]

I recently took a class on Google from Patrick Crispen, Instructional Technology Coordinator at CSU Long Beach. Here's his PowerPoint presentation "Google 70-20-10: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at Everyone's Favorite Search Engine"

http://www.netsquirrel.com/powerpoin...e_70-20-10.zip

For more basic usage, "Google 101":

http://www.netsquirrel.com/powerpoin...google_101.zip

He has other presentations on his website on a variety of topics. Generally they are for technology newbies, but I always learn something new from him. www.netsquirrel.com

 

[JoshGivens]

Wasn't there some info circling a while back about index searches. Where you can look into directories that people have on thier webspace that the didn't protect with a password?

 

[Hunter P]

Just so you know: Yahoo > Google

Anyway, Google wasn't the first. Plus the search filters and boolean logic were taken from Google's predecessors. But for some reason, Google has taken over the lexicon for searching terms on the Internet. I don't get it.

And if I'm not happy with Yahoo or Google then I bring out my weapon of mass destruction: http://www.metacrawler.com/

 

[Christ Reynolds]

there, i corrected it for you.

CJ

 

[Jason Kirkpatri]

I set Google as my default search engine, remove the resultant Google toolbar, and just type all my search criteria in the URL address bar.

Works great, less filling.

 

[Brian Perry]

What would it take for Google to be dethroned as the most popular search engine? I remember when AltaVista, Hotbot, Northern Lights, etc. were all the rage. As someone who has owned Google's stock, I always thought they were vulnerable to Microsoft or IBM coming out with a superior product.

Is Google so big now that it doesn't matter if a better alternative comes out? (Kind of like eBay, where there is such a huge list of items for sale at any given time, it's almost impossible for a competitor to start up.)

 

[Holadem]

The thing that turned me onto Google was when they swallowed up the Dejanews newsgroup archives and search engine.

I was still very reliant on Newsgroups back then for computer and HT info, so naturally I migrated to Google.

For a few months between the dissapearance of Dejanews and the advent of Google, there was no web-based newsgroup archives, it was horrible! It's like having HTF got down for a few months.

I think so. One thing sets them head and shoulder above everyone else: They keep innovating.

Expect the verb "to google" to show up in the dictionary before long.

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H

 

[Hunter P]

No, it was right the first time, Christ.

 

[Wendy_L]

It never ceases to amaze me how much you guys know.

Thank you again.