Search engine usage with Google operators
21 Sep 2020 - written by Hardy Scheel
How does a search engine interpret your search queries? Your text queries are not interpreted like a prose text, which is very familiar for human understanding. Google for instance ignores stop-words like: and, for or the, and also interpunctuation. It picks out keywords, combines them and queries his databases for matches.
Table of content
Google operators
Search operators
link:<domain> - Which other websites have linked to this website? Example usage: Who has linked to your website or your blog entry?
link:scheel.dev
site:<domain> your search queries - Search the website you have specified.
site:scheel.dev java
java site:scheel.dev
inurl:your search query - Search a concrete part of the URL.
site:scheel.dev inurl:cmder
info:<domain> - Get site specific details and data. Get sites in google cache, similar sites or sites which are linked within this site.
info:scheel.dev
define:your search query - Get the definition about your query.
define:html
cache:<domain> - Get old cached versions of a site.
cache:scheel.dev
related:<domain> - Find similar sites.
cache:heise.de
Further help
- Google Search Help
- Google Search Help - optimize your search
- German: online-marketing.de/google-suchoperatoren/
- German: t3n.de/news/google-suche-tipps-und-tricks
Calculator
You can calculate many things like:
- Arithmetic
- Functions
- Values of physical constants
- Conversion of number systems
Display equations graphically like:
- Trigonometric functions
- Exponential functions
- Logarithmic functions
- 3D graphics (for desktop browsers with WebGL support)
Geometry Calculator: Search for geometrical formulas and answers to complex geometrical problems.
Unit Converter:
- Temperature
- Unit of length
- Weight
- Speed
- Volume
- Area
- Fuel consumption
- Time
- Data size
Further help
Google Search Help - Use calculator, unit converter and colour picker
Colour Picker
Use the colour picker to select a colour or convert one colour code to another.
Further help
Google Search Help - Use calculator, unit converter and colour picker
Google Operators in tabular form
Basic Google search operators
| Operator | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| + | Search for several terms. Corresponds to the Google Standard Search. | Blog+Ratings |
| – | Exclude terms. | Ice -Bear |
| | | The pipe symbol separates two terms and requires separate search results for both terms. | Bike+Helmet | E-Bike |
| “…” | Use quotation marks to search for a concrete sentence. | “The Kremlin in Moscow.” |
| * | Wildcard search. Search for unknown terms. | Airplane*Helicopter |
| . | A dot automatically completes an omitted word in the search input. | The glorious. |
| ~ | Search for synonyms. | ~Evaluation |
| .. | A from-to search. | iPhone 400..600$ |
| (…) | Group operators and terms. | site:scheel.dev AND intitle:cmder |
Advanced Google search operators
| Operator | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| allinanchor: | Suggests only search results that contain the desired search term in the link text. | allinanchor:designcapital |
| allinpostauthor: | Articles by a specific author can be found using the search command. | allinpostauthor:vargas llosa |
| allintext: | Only search results whose web page text contains all search terms will be displayed. | allintext:mostlivablecity |
| allintitle: | Only web pages are displayed whose titles contain all the search terms. | allintitle:urbangardening |
| allinurl: | Only returns search results from URLs that contain all desired search terms. | allinurl:designagency |
| AND | AND searches for results that meet all conditions of the search term. | site:Instagram.com AND site:facebook.com AND intext:flow magazin |
| AROUND (X) | AROUND offers results that are close to the search terms. The X expresses how many words may lie between the search terms. | AROUND(5) |
| cache: | Specifies the cache version of the searched website. | cache:amazon.com |
| define: | define offers the possibility to get definitions of the search term from various sources. | define:syntax |
| filetype: | Search results can be reduced to a specific file format, for example PDF. | recipe cheesecake filetype:pdf |
| inanchor: | Only websites whose text links contain desired search terms. | inanchor:colour theory |
| inauthor: | The author appears by name. | Inauthor:Jeff Bezos |
| info: | More information about the given page. | info:ebay.com |
| intext: | Searches only for text content that contains the search term. | intext:swim |
| intitle: | Searches only for title ads that contain the search term. | intitle:swim |
| inurl: | Only search results whose URL contains the specified search term. | inurl:illustrations |
| link: | Search only for content that links to the given URL. | link:amazon.com |
| OR | The OR parameter has the same function as the already mentioned pipe search operator and separates several search terms from each other; watch out for capitalization. | Geschäftsmodell OR Business Model Canvas |
| loc: | The search refers only to the specified location. | loc:Moscow |
| movie: | Cinema program regarding film and location are displayed. | movie:star wars |
| related: | Shows comparatively similar websites that you have specified. | related:news.com |
| site: | Search all pages of a domain indexed by Google. | site:www.news.com |
| weather: | Weather data refer to the location indicated. | weather:Moscow |