[tt] Google Cheat Sheet
Premise Checker
<checker at panix.com> on
Fri Jan 18 20:46:39 UTC 2008
Google Cheat Sheet
Google Guide Quick Reference: Google Advanced Operators (Cheat Sheet)
http://www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators_reference.html
Commingled with
http://www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators.html
(A printable PDF version is available.)
http://www.googleguide.com/print/adv_op_ref.pdf
I. BASIC EXAMPLES
This Search Finds Pages Containing:
http://www.googleguide.com/crafting_queries.html
biking Italy (the words biking and Italy)
http://www.google.com/search?q=biking+Italy
recycle steel OR iron (information on recycling steel or recycling iron)
http://www.google.com/search?q=recycle+steel+OR+iron
"I have a dream" (the exact phrase I have a dream)
http://www.google.com/search?q="I+have+a+dream"
salsa -dance (the word salsa but NOT the word dance)
http://www.google.com/search?q=salsa+-dance
Louis +I France (information about Louis the First (I), weeding out other
kings of France)
http://www.google.com/search?q=Louis+%2BI+France
castle ~glossary (glossaries about castles, as well as dictonaries, lists
of terms, terminology, etc.)
http://www.google.com/search?q=castle+~glossary
fortune-telling (all forms of the term, whether spelled as a single word,
a phrase, or hyphenated)
http://www.google.com/search?q=fortune-telling
define:imbroglio (definitions of the word imbroglio from the Web)
http://www.google.com/search?q=define:imbroglio
II. CALCULATOR
http://www.googleguide.com/help/calculator.html
Basic Arithmetic
12 + 34 - 56 * 7 / 8
http://www.google.com/search?q=12+%2B+34-+56+*+7+/+8
Percent of
45% of 39
http://www.google.com/search?q=45%+of+39
Raise to a Power (^ or **)
2^5
http://www.google.com/search?q=2^5
or 2**5
http://www.google.com/search?q=2**5
Old Units in New Units (convert units)
300 Euros in USD
http://www.google.com/search?q=300+Euros+in+USD
30 lbs in kg
http://www.google.com/search?q=130+lbs+in+kg
31 in hex
http://www.google.com/search?q=31+in+hex
III. RESTRICT SEARCH
A. BOOK FLIGHTS
city1 city2
http://www.gadgetell.com/2005/11/book-your-flights-through-google-with-google-flight/
sfo bos
(Book flights from San Francisco (SFO) to Boston (BOS).)
http://www.google.com/search?q=sfo+bos
B. SITE
(Search only one website or domain.)
If you include site: in your query, Google will restrict your search
results to the site or domain you specify. For example, [admissions
site:www.lse.ac.uk] will show admissions information from London School of
Economics' site and [peace site:gov] will find pages about peace within
the .gov domain. You can specify a domain with or without a period, e.g.,
either as .gov or gov.
Note: Do not include a space between the "site:" and the domain.
You can use many of the search operators in conjunction with the basic
search operators +, -, OR, and " ". For example, to find information on
Windows security from all sites except microsoft.com, enter:
[windows security -site:microsoft.com]
You can also restrict your results to a site or domain through the domains
selector on the Advanced Search page.
Halloween site:www.census.gov
(Search for information on Halloween gathered by the US Census Bureau.)
http://www.google.com/search?q=Halloween+site:www.census.gov
C. [#]..[#]
(Search within a range of numbers.)
http://www.googleguide.com/crafting_queries.html#numrange
Dave Barry pirate 2002..2006
(Search for Dave Barry articles mentioning pirates written in these
years.)
http://www.google.com/search?q=Dave+Barry+pirate+2002..2006
D. FILETYPE (or ext:)
(Find documents of the specified type.)
If you include filetype:suffix in your query, Google will restrict the
results to pages whose names end in suffix.
For example, [web page evaluation checklist filetype:pdf] will return
Adobe Acrobat pdf files that match the terms "web," "page," "evaluation,"
and "checklist." You can restrict the results to pages whose names end
with pdf and doc by using the OR operator, e.g. [email security
filetype:pdf OR filetype:doc].
When you don't specify a File Format in the Advanced Search Form or the
filetype: operator, Google searches a variety of file formats; see the
table in File Type Conversion.
Form 1098-T IRS filetype:pdf (Find the US tax form 1098-T in PDF format.)
http://www.google.com/search?q=Form+1098-T+IRS+filetype:pdf
(Note: ext is an undocumented alias for filetype.)
E. LINK
(Find linked pages, i.e., show pages that point to the URL.)
The query link:URL shows pages that point to that URL. For example, to
find pages that point to Google Guide's home page, enter:
[link:www.googleguide.com]
Note: According to Google's documentation, "you cannot combine a link:
search with a regular keyword search."
Also note that when you combine link: with another advanced operator,
Google may not return all the pages that match. The following queries
should return lots of results, as you can see if you remove the -site:
term in each of these queries.
Find links to the Google home page not on Google's own site.
[link:www.google.com -site:google.com]
Find links to the UK Owners Direct home page not on its own site.
[link:www.www.ownersdirect.co.uk-site:ownersdirect.co.uk]
link:warriorlibrarian.com
(Find pages that link to Warrior Librarian's website.)
http://www.google.com/search?q=link:warriorlibrarian.com
IV. SPECIALIZED INFORMATION QUERIES
http://www.googleguide.com/shortcuts.html
A. BOOK (or books)
(Search full-text of books.)
http://www.google.com/help/features.html#book
book Ender's Game
(Show book-related information. Note: No colon needed after book.)
http://www.google.com/search?q=book+Ender's+Game
B. DEFINE
(Provide definitions for words, phrases, and acronyms from the Web.)
If you start your query with define:, Google shows definitions from pages
on the web for the term that follows. This advanced search operator is
useful for finding definitions of words, phrases, and acronyms. For
example, [define: blog] will show definitions for "Blog" (weB LOG).
define monopsony,
what is podcast
(Show a definition for the words monopsony and podcast. Note: No colon
after define, what is, or what are.)
http://www.google.com/search?q=define+monopsony
http://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+podcast
define:kerning
(Find definitions for kerning from the Web.)
http://www.google.com/search?q=define:kerning
C. PHONEBOOK
(Show all phonebook listings.)
If you start your query with phonebook:, Google shows all U.S. white page
listings for the query terms you specify. For example, [phonebook: Krispy
Kreme Mountain View] will show the phonebook listing of Krispy Kreme donut
shops in Mountain View.
Disney CA (Search for Disney's phone numbers in California - CA.)
http://www.google.com/search?q=phonebook:+Disney+CA
D. RPHONEBOOK
(Show residential phonebook listings.)
If you start your query with rphonebook:, Google shows U.S. residential
white page listings for the query terms you specify. For example,
[rphonebook: John Doe New York] will show the phonebook listings for John
Doe in New York (city or state). Abbreviations like [rphonebook: John Doe
NY] generally also work.
rphonebook: bill jones NY
(Search for the phone number of every Bill Jones in New York State - NY.)
http://www.google.com/search?q=rphonebook:+bill+jones+NY
E. MOVIE
(Find reviews and showtimes.)
If you include movie: in your query, Google will find movie-related
information. For examples, see Google's Blog.
movie: traffic (Search for information about this movie, including
reviews, showtimes, etc.)
http://www.google.com/search?q=movie:+traffic
F. STOCKS
(Given ticker symbols, show stock information)
If you start your query with stocks:, Google will interpret the rest of
the query terms as NYSE, NASDAQ,
AMEX, or mutual fund stock ticker symbols, and will open a page showing
stock information for the symbols you specify. For instance, [stocks:brcm
brcd] will show information about Broadcom Corporation and Brocade
Communications System.
Note: Specify ticker symbols not company names.
If you enter an invalid ticker symbol, you'll be told so and given a link
to a page where you can look up a valid ticker symbol. You can also obtain
stock information by entering one or more ticker symbols in Google's query
box, e.g., [brcm brcd] and then clicking on the link "Stock Quotes for
BRCM, BRCD" that appears near the top of the results page.
stocks: goog (Find Google's current stock price.)
http://www.google.com/search?q=stocks:+goog
G. WEATHER
(Given a location (US zip code or city), show the weather)
If you enter a query with the word weather and a city or location name, if
Google recognizes the location, the forecast will appear at the top of the
results page. Otherwise, your results will usually include links to sites
with the weather conditions and forecast for that location.
Since weather is not an advanced operator, there is no need to include a
colon after the word. For example, [weather Sunnyvale CA] will return the
weather for Sunnyvale, California and [weather 94041] will return the
weather for the city containing the zip code (US postal code) 94041, which
is Mountain View, California.
weather Seattle WA, weather 81612 (Show the current weather and forecast.)
Note: No colon after weather.
http://www.google.com/search?q=weather+Seattle+WA
http://www.google.com/search?q=weather+81612
V. ALTERNATIVE QUERY TYPES
A. CACHE
(Display Google's cached version of a web page.)
The query cache:url will display Google's cached version of a web page,
instead of the current version of the page. For example,
[cache:www.eff.org] will show Google's cached version of the Electronic
Frontier Foundation home page.
Note: Do not put a space between cache: and the URL (web address).
On the cached version of a page, Google will highlight terms in your query
that appear after the cache: search operator. For example,
[cache:www.pandemonia.com/flying/ fly diary] will show Google's cached
version of Flight Diary in which Hamish Reid's documents what's involved
in learning how to fly with the terms "fly" and "diary" highlighted.
cache:www.irs.gov (Show Google's cached version of the US Internal Revenue
Service home page.)
http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:www.irs.gov
B. INFO (or id:)
(Find info about a page.)
The query info:URL will present some information about the corresponding
web page. For instance, [info:gothotel.com] will show information about
the national hotel directory GotHotel.com home page.
Note: There must be no space between the info: and the web page URL.
This functionality can also be obtained by typing the web page URL
directly into a Google search box.
info:www.theonion.com (Find information about The Onion website.)
http://www.google.com/search?q=info:www.theonion.com
(id is an undocumented alias for info.)
C. RELATED
(List web pages that are similar or related to the URL.)
The query related:URL will list web pages that are similar to the web page
you specify. For instance, [related:www.consumerreports.org] will list web
pages that are similar to the Consumer Reports home page.
Note: Don't include a space between the related: and the web page url.
You can also find similar pages from the "Similar pages" link on Google's
main results page, and from the similar selector in the Page-Specific
Search area of the Advanced Search page. If you expect to search
frequently for similar pages, consider installing a GoogleScout browser
button, which scouts for similar pages.
related:www.healthfinder.gov (Find websites related to the Healthfinder
website.)
http://www.google.com/search?q=related:www.healthfinder.gov
VI. RESTRICT SEARCH TO SITES WHERE QUERY WORDS APPEAR
A. ALLINANCHOR
(All query words must appear in anchor text of links to the page.)
If you start your query with allinanchor:, Google restricts results to
pages containing all query terms you specify in the anchor text on links
to the page. For example, [allinanchor: best museums sydney] will return
only pages in which the anchor text on links to the pages contain the
words "best," "museums," and "sydney."
Anchor text is the text on a page that is linked to another web page or a
different place on the current page.
When you click on anchor text, you will be taken to the page or place on
the page to which it is linked. When using allinanchor: in your query, do
not include any other search operators. The functionality of allinanchor:
is also available through the Advanced Web Search page, under Occurrences.
allinanchor:useful parenting sites (Search for pages that are called
useful parenting sites by others.)
http://www.google.com/search?q=allinanchor:+useful+parenting+sites
B. INANCHOR
(Terms must appear in anchor text of links to the page.)
If you include inanchor: in your query, Google will restrict the results
to pages containing the query terms you specify in the anchor text or
links to the page. For example, [restaurants inanchor:gourmet] will return
pages in which the anchor text on links to the pages contain the word
"gourmet" and the page contains the word "restaurants."
restaurants Portland inanchor:kid-friendly
(Search for pages on Portland restaurants for which links to the page say
they are "kid friendly.")
http://www.google.com/search?q=restaurants+Portland+inanchor:kid-friendly
C. ALLINTEXT
(All query words must appear the in text of the page.)
If you start your query with allintext:, Google restricts results to those
containing all the query terms you specify in the text of the page. For
example, [allintext: travel packing list] will return only pages in which
the words "travel," "packing," and "list" appear in the text of the page.
This functionality can also be obtained through the Advanced Web Search
page, under Occurrences.
allintext:ingredients cilantro chicken lime (Search for recipes with these
three ingredients.)
http://www.google.com/search?q=allintext:ingredients+cilantro+chicken+lime
D. INTEXT
(The terms must appear in the text of the page.)
The query intext:term restricts results to documents containing term in
the text. For instance, [Hamish Reid intext:pandemonia] will return
documents that mention the word "pandemonia" in the text, and mention the
names "Hamish" and "Reid" anywhere in the document (text or not).
Note: There must be no space between the intext: and the following word.
Putting intext: in front of every word in your query is equivalent to
putting allintext: at the front of your query, e.g., [intext:handsome
intext:poets] is the same as [allintext: handsome poets].
Dan Shugar intext:Powerlight
(Find pages mentioning Dan Shugar where his company, Powerlight, is
included in the text of the page, i.e., less likely to be from the
corporate website.)
http://www.google.com/search?q=Dan+Shugar+intext:Powerlight
E. ALLINTITLE
(All query words must appear in the title of the page.)
If you start your query with allintitle:, Google restricts results to
those containing all the query terms you specify in the title. For
example, [allintitle: detect plagiarism] will return only documents that
contain the words "detect" and "plagiarism" in the title. This
functionality can also be obtained through the Advanced Web Search page,
under Occurrences.
The title of a webpage is usually displayed at the top of the browser
window and in the first line of Google's search results for a page. The
author of a website specifies the title of a page with the HTML TITLE
element.
There's only one title in a webpage. When using allintitle: in your query,
do not include any other search operators. The functionality of
allintitle: is also available through the Advanced Web Search page, under
Occurrences.
In Image Search, the operator allintitle: will return images in files
whose names contain the terms that you specify.
In Google News, the operator allintitle: will return articles whose titles
include the terms you specify.
F. INTITLE
(The terms must appear in the title of the page.)
The query intitle:term restricts results to documents containing term in
the title. For instance, [flu shot intitle:help] will return documents
that mention the word "help" in their titles, and mention the words "flu"
and "shot" anywhere in the document (title or not).
Note: There must be no space between the intitle: and the following word.
Putting intitle: in front of every word in your query is equivalent to
putting allintitle: at the front of your query, e.g., [intitle:google
intitle:search] is the same as [allintitle: google search].
movies comedy intitle:top ten
(Search for pages with the words movie and comedy that include top ten in
the title of the page.)
http://www.google.com/search?q=movies+comedy+intitle:top+ten
G. ALLINURL
(All query words must appear in the URL.)
If you start your query with allinurl:, Google restricts results to those
containing all the query terms you specify in the URL. For example,
[allinurl: google faq] will return only documents that contain the words
"google" and "faq" in the URL, such as "www.google.com/help/faq.html".
This functionality can also be obtained through the Advanced Web Search
page, under Occurrences.
In URLs, words are often run together. They need not be run together when
you're using allinurl:.
In Google News, the operator allinurl: will return articles whose titles
include the terms you specify.
The Uniform Resource Locator, more commonly known as URL, is the address
that specifies the location of a file on the Internet. When using
allinurl: in your query, do not include any other search operators. The
functionality of allinurl: is also available through the Advanced Web
Search page, under Occurrences.
allinurl:pez faq (Search for pages containing the words pez & faq in the
URL.)
http://www.google.com/search?q=allinurl:+pez+faq
H. INURL
(The terms must appear in the URL of the page.)
If you include inurl: in your query, Google will restrict the results to
documents containing that word in the URL. For instance, [inurl:print
site:www.googleguide.com] searches for pages on Google Guide in which the
URL contains the word "print." It finds pdf files that are in the
directory or folder named "print" on the Google Guide website. The query
[inurl:healthy eating] will return documents that mention the words
"healthy" in their URL, and mention the word "eating" anywhere in the
document.
Note: There must be no space between the inurl: and the following word.
Putting inurl: in front of every word in your query is equivalent to
putting allinurl: at the front of your query, e.g., [inurl:healthy
inurl:eating] is the same as [allinurl: healthy eating].
In URLs, words are often run together. They need not be run together when
you're using inurl:.
pharmaceutical inurl:investor
(Search for pages in which the URL contains the word investor.)
http://www.google.com/search?q=pharmaceutical+inurl:investor
VII. RESTRICT SEARCH TO GOOGLE GROUPS
http://www.googleguide.com/groups.html
A. AUTHOR
(Find Groups messages from the specified author.)
If you include author: in your query, Google will restrict your Google
Groups results to include newsgroup articles by the author you specify.
The author can be a full or partial name or email address. For example,
[children author:john author:doe] or [children author:doe at someaddress.com]
return articles that contain the word "children" written by John Doe or
doe at someaddress.com.
Google will search for exactly what you specify. If your query contains
[author:"John Doe"] (with quotes), Google won't find articles where the
author is specified as "Doe, John."
flying author:Hamish author:Reid (Search for Hamish Reid's articles on
flying.)
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=flying+author:Hamish+author:Reid
B. GROUP
(Find Groups messages from the specified newsgroup.)
If you include group: in your query, Google will restrict your Google
Groups results to newsgroup articles from certain groups or subareas. For
example, [sleep group:misc.kids.moderated] will return articles in the
group misc.kids.moderated that contain the word "sleep" and [sleep
group:misc.kids] will return articles in the subarea misc.kids that
contain the word "sleep."
ivan doig group:rec.arts.books
(Search for postings about Ivan Doig in the group rec.arts.books.)
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=ivan+doig+group:rec.arts.books
C. INSUBJECT
(Find Groups messages containing terms in the subject line.)
If you include insubject: in your query, Google will restrict articles in
Google Groups to those that contain the terms you specify in the subject.
For example, [insubject:"falling asleep"] will return Google Group
articles that contain the phrase "falling asleep" in the subject.
insubject:"crazy quilts"
(Find Groups messages containing crazy quilts in the subject line.)
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=insubject:"crazy+quilts"
VIII. RESTRICT SEARCH TO GOOGLE NEWS
http://www.googleguide.com/news.html
A. LOCATION
(Find News articles from sources located in the specified location.)
If you include location: in your query on Google News, only articles from
the location you specify will be returned. For example, [queen
location:canada] will show articles that match the term "queen" from sites
in Canada.
Many other country names work; try them and see.
Two-letter US state abbreviations match individual US states, and
two-letter Canadian province abbreviations (like NS for Nova Scotia) also
work -- although some provinces don't have many newspapers online, so you
may not get many results. Some other two-letter abbreviations -- such as
UK for the United Kingdom -- are also available.
queen location:uk
(Find British news articles on the Queen.)
http://news.google.com/news?q=queen+location:uk
B. SOURCE
(Find News articles from specified sources.)
If you include source: in your query, Google News will restrict your
search to articles from the news source with the ID you specify. For
example, [election source:new_york_times] will return articles with the
word "election" that appear in the New York Times.
To find a news source ID, enter a query that includes a term and the name
of the publication you're seeking. You can also specify the publication
name in the "news source" field in the Advanced News Search form. You'll
find the news source ID in the query box, following the source: search
operator. For example, let's say you enter the publication name Ha'aretz
in the News Source box, then you click the Google Search button. The
results page appears, and its search box contains
[peace source:ha_aretz__subscription_]. This means that the news source ID
is ha_aretz__subscription_. This query will only return articles that
include the word "peace" from the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz.
peace source:ha_aretz
(Show articles on peace from the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz.)
http://news.google.com/news?q=peace+source:ha_aretz
IX. RESTRICT SEARCH TO FROOGLE
http://www.googleguide.com/froogle.html
STORE
(Find Froogle products from the specified store.)
If you include store: in your query, Froogle will restrict your search to
the store ID you specify. For example, [polo shirt store:llbean] will
return listings that match the terms "polo" and "shirt" from the store L.
L. Bean.
To find a store ID, enter the name of the store and click on the link "See
all results from store." You'll find the store ID in the query box, after
the store: search operator.
http://www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators.html#store:
jeans store:gap (Find Gap jeans.)
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=jeans+store:gap
X. ABOUT THIS CHEAT SHEET
Logo for Creative Commons License 2006. Click for license information. For
more tips, tricks, & examples, visit
http://www.googleguide.com/license.html
For more tips and tricks visit
http://www.GoogleGuide.com.
Cheat Sheet written by Nancy Blachman, Tasha Bergson-Michelson, & Jerry
Peek who don't work for Google. http://www.tothepointresearch.com/
Thank you Matt Vance for the idea of creating a Google Guide cheat sheet.
http://www.minezone.org/
The Google Guide Advanced Operator Quick Reference
http://www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators_reference.html provides a
nice summary of the search operators grouped by type. It includes search
operators not yet documented by Google, e.g., allinanchor:, allintext:,
author:, ext:, group:, id:, insubject:, intext:, intitle:, location:,
phonebook:, source:, and store:.
Note: Google may change how undocumented operators work or eliminate them
completely. If you notice problems or changes in Google's undocumented
operators, please let us know.
XI. EXERCISES
This problem set is designed to give you experiences with search operators
and practice with specifying more precisely what you're seeking by using
the Advanced Search form. For hints and answers to selected problems, see
the Solutions page.
1. Use the site: operator to search for armchairs on IKEA's site,
www.ikea.com.
2. Use the Advanced Search form to find the page whose title is "Some Ways
to Detect Plagiarism." When the title is entered in lowercase letters, the
query box on the results page contains [allintitle: "ways to detect
plagiarism"].
3. Find all pages on google.com but not on answers.google.com nor on
directory.google.com whose titles include the words "FAQ" or "help."
4. Use the link: operator to see who links to googleguide.com, your
company's website, or your favorite website.
5. Find pages whose titles include surfing that are not about surfing the
World Wide Web.
6. Find out where the upcoming international conference on AIDS is being
held.
7. How can you search for [google help] on Google Guide,
http://www.googleguide.com, and on the UC Berkeley library website,
http://www.lib.berkeley.edu?
For Google tips, tricks, & how Google works, visit Google Guide at
http://www.GoogleGuide.com.
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