Credentials

Personal Attention

Superior Results

Back to Newsletters

Ten Ways to Improve Your Googling Skills

Tired of searching through pages and pages of results on Google? Fortune sat down with
Google to figure out how to narrow down a search, so you can find exactly what you need.
Here are ten ways to cut down the time you spend digging through results
1. Give in to Google.
Some website search functions are lousy. So let Google take over. Example: If youre
searching for green initiatives at the White House, search green site:www.whitehouse.gov.
Youll get results exclusively from within the www.whitehouse.gov site.
2. Know what to eliminate.
If you dont want a particular word to appear in your search results, use a minus sign right
before that word. So, if youre traveling to Paris but youre not interested in Paris Hilton or
Paris, Texas, type Paris -Hilton -Texas.
3. Narrow your sites.
Say you want to read up on the economic stimulus but avoid news stories and commentary
from bloggers. Search www.google.com/unclesam and your results will include content only
from sites that end in .gov. Also, www.scholar.google.com lets you search scholarly literature
not just sites that end in .edu. That includes peer-reviewed papers, theses, and articles.
4. Go public.
A new Google tool delivers data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau.
In the Google search bar, type unemployment rate or population followed by a state or
county. You get the most recent estimates, with an interactive chart. This data isnt anything
thats not already out there, but it lets you slice and dice in ways you probably cant if
youre getting it from the Census Bureau, explains Bliss.
5. Match an image.
Googles new similar images search is in Google Labs mode, which means its a prototype.
Google describes the function as allowing you to refine your image search with visual
similarity. Example: Search Similar Images for Yankees logo. What do you get? Anything
with a Yankees emblem. If you want only the plain New York Yankees pattern, click on
similar images beneath the thumbnail; you get a page of images that are close matches. You

can refine your query by selecting image size, content (i.e. photo or clip art), and the color
you want to appear.
6. Know the super shortcuts.
On its Improve Your Search Experience page, Google provides a bunch of tips. A few that I
found most useful:
- Definitions: Type in define followed by a word, and Google gives definitions from a
variety of sources.
- Calculations: Google calculates and converts currencies. Type your equation or conversion
into the search bar.
- Weather and time: Type weather followed by the cityor time followed by the city.
7. Keep tabs on a topic.
Personalize your Google News page by clicking Personalize this page. Sci/Tech and
Business interest you most? Drag those icons to the top. Dont care about sports? Delete that
category. To keep tabs on news in your neighborhood, set up regional news. Or create a new
category with a keyword.
8. Search the past.
Google has been working with newspapers to digitize historical content and make it
searchable. Not all of the content in Google News Archives is free but if you want just the
free results, select no price on the Advanced News Archive Search page.
9. Google on the go.
You dont have to be out of the loop if you dont have a BlackBerry (RIMM) or iPhone
(AAPL). Need directions? Call 1-800-GOOG-411 or text 46645 with a question.
10. Get a tip a day.
If youre already a Google pro, add Tip of the Day to iGoogle, your personalized page.