How to Find What You Want with Google

Did you know you can make Google find what you're looking for even more accurately than it normally would? Learn how to pinpoint exactly what you're searching for on Google - quickly and easily.
Most people who search on the internet have a favorite search engine. In fact, the majority of internet users choose Google.



Do you fall into this category? If so, are you taking advantage of everything Google offers?



If an internet search means you go to www.google.com and simply type 2 or 3 words into the search box, hoping to find what you're looking for, you aren't even scratching the surface.



How Can You Get Better Results?



Google is the number one search engine for good reason - their results are generally the most accurate. Even so, there are ways to pinpoint what you're looking for even more effectively.



You have two options when it comes to fine-tuning your searches - you can use the Google Advanced Search screen or you can use "modifiers" in the main Google search.



Option 1: Google Advanced Search



When you go to www.google.com, there is a little "Advanced Search" link to the right of the main search box. If you click on that, you'll get the much more detailed Google search, where you can make very specific requests.



The first four sections, highlighted in blue, are some of the most important. Here you can specify any of the following:

1. All of the words - this will give you results with all of your search words, but not in any particular order. They can also be anywhere on the page.
2. The exact phrase - this will give you results with exactly the phrase you enter. The phrase must appear on the page exactly the way you enter it.
3. At least one of the words - this will show results with any one or more of your search words on the page.
4. Without the words - this will give you results that don't include your search terms at all.

These four sections can be used independently or combined to work together.



For example, you could search for the exact phrase 'free virus software' without the words 'trial' or 'tryout' if you're looking for free virus software but don't want trial versions that will expire after a short time.



As another example, you could use option #3 (at least one of the words) if you're looking for something but don't know exactly how to spell it. Put a few possible spellings in and it will find pages with any one or more of those spellings.



The rest of the sections on the Advanced Search page are pretty self-explanatory. One that I will point out is the Domain option. You can specify a website and either search for something only on that site, or anywhere but that site.



If you've found an interesting website that doesn't have a search function of its own, you can use this to limit Google to searching that site for whatever you're looking for. In fact, the Google search is often better even if the site does have its own search function.



You can also use it to find other references to something you might have read on a particular website. If you search for it and exclude the site you saw it on, you'll find other references to it that you can cross-check.



Option 2: Using Modifiers



Modifiers will let you use all the advanced features without having to go to the Advanced Search page every time. These modifiers can just be entered in the standard Google search box to get the same results as the advanced options.



There are quite a few different modifiers that can be used, but some of the most useful are as follows:



Putting "" around a phrase will search for the exact phrase. Searching for free antivirus software will show you pages with those three words anywhere on the page. Searching for "free antivirus software" shows you pages that contain that exact phrase.



Putting a - before a word is the same as the advanced option "without the words." So, to use the example used earlier, searching for "free virus software" -trial -tryout will show pages with that exact phrase, not including the other two words.



Using site: followed by the domain name of the website you want to search will only return results from that particular website. For example, searching for "virus protection" site:computer-help-squad.com will only return results from the www.computer-help-squad.com website.



Again, these can be combined so -site: will return results from any site except the one you specify.



How to Figure Out the Modifiers



The easiest way to see how to use modifiers in your searches is to try some searches with the Advanced Search page and see how Google formats them.



Using our example again, if you enter 'free antivirus software' in the "with the exact phrase" box and the words 'trial' and 'tryout' in the "without the words" box, the search that Google runs looks like this:



"free virus software" -trial -tryout



If you play around a bit with the advanced searches, you'll see how Google formats them for you. Next time, you can just enter them yourself in the standard search box instead of going to the Advanced Search page.



Once you get the hang of these options in Google, you'll find that your searches get even more accurate because you can filter out the stuff you don't want.

Gmail is Still Beta for a Reason

I think it was the threat of a Gmail revolution that prompted Yahoo to increase the storage space parceled to its free email accounts last year. Who remembers rummaging through our Yahoo email accounts deleting emails only weeks, if not days, old?

I think it was the threat of a Gmail revolution that prompted Yahoo to increase the storage space parceled to its free email accounts last year.  (Yahoo’s paid email at the time, of course, gave storage to spare.  It’s an example of how the whiff of corporate competition can benefit end users or consumers.)  Who remembers rummaging through our Yahoo email accounts deleting emails only weeks, if not days, old?  I think Yahoo copied their color coded warning system of diminishing storage space from the easy-to-comprehend terror levels issued by the federal government.  Gmail’s arrival, though, changed this – we were ready for something better.  Its search-based organization, something we like to see at ConductSearch.com, figured to be a natural step for email world to take.

I believe that something better came, too.  But, something that I’m unlikely to avail myself to because I, like most, am not ready to forego the free, web-based email I am comfortable with for Gmail’s blessings. 

Gmail, like Google, was marketed beautifully from the outset.  How did they manufacture buzz?  By attaching a sense of exclusivity to a Gmail address, that’s how.  That’s no small feat considering that Gmail doesn’t cost anything.  But, they used the invite system and people, exercising the herd mentality as we’re wont to do, were all over it.  Web geeks were all over Gmail and invites for an address even made it to eBay.  I have no doubt Google’s marketing department loved that; they might have even put them up for auction themselves. 

When the hubbub died down a bit I got mine from a friend who works at Google.  I admit to all (and to Mike) that I felt sheer gratitude for the address.  The marketing worked.  That’s about when the magic ended for me.  For starters, it seemed as if Google couldn’t let some standard features be, like…freakin’ folders!

I had a chat with ConductSearch.com’s IT director who, like me, had and disregarded his Gmail account, as did others around the office.  The latest numbers show that Gmail accounts handle less than 4% of email volume and I believe this number is generous.  The number one reason for discontinuance was forgetting passwords.  In other words, there was nothing compelling enough to get a Gmail account and keep it. 

I also learned that others, too, didn’t like the way Gmail “revolutionized” email.  Perhaps this progress was a little forced.  Granted, you can go on any techie board and read how people love Gmail, how effective its spam filters are (might have more to do with that Gmail < 4% penetration), how the flow works, etc.  Ah, rubbish. 

For starters, email is, to me, about communication.  And it’s a slower form of communication than IM, so I don’t need it to be cutting edge, just convenient.  I want my email ordered.  Before computers, when we were waist high in paperwork (I still am, amazingly) we needed folders and labels.  Naturally, as email evolved an organizational system of folders and labels by subject or sender was produced.  And, hey, look what else developed – trash cans, just like in real life.  Love throwing away that clutter.

Well, Gmail trashed the perfectly good email format where trash cans and folders ease the burdens of Inboxes.  Gmail even makes it tough to delete useless email, too.  Google intimates that deletion of email is a non-priority because users are given so much storage space.  Baloney.  It’s an irksome element and on some level I think it has something to do with the fact that I’m served text ads in my own inbox.  People shouldn’t wonder why Gmail is still ‘Beta’, though some joke that Google forgot to take down that label. 

It’s not a coincidence; Google took a shot at revamping email as we know it and it didn’t work – yet.  Unfortunately for Gmail, Instant Messaging has stolen much of their potential thunder and as convergence continues between voice, text, and video – revolutions within a confined space, like email, will not be forthcoming.  I do believe, though, that Google has a longer-term plan for Gmail.  All the applications that Google develops (admittedly, almost none of it is original or innovative – Google calendar, picture sharing, the free word processing download, to name a few) leads me to believe that Google is trying to integrate an all-involved interactive experience for the web user.  I’m pretty sure that Gmail will someday be seamlessly integrated with instant messaging and document sharing within a Google-server based operating system that will free users from any web-borne virus or malicious hacking.  Would be an impressive corporate application, would it not?  It explains, to me at least, Google’s giant server complex being built on the Columbia River that’s been the source of so much speculation.


Jeff Conduct
Director of Marketing
ConductSearch.com
http://www.conductsearch.com
t: 1.888.99CS.NYC
e: marketing@conductsearch.com

YM. yahoo

Yahoo! Dari sejarahnya sejak ditemukan dan kemudian dipublish mulai tahun 1994, ada orang yang menjadi konseptor dibelakang semuaini, yaitu dua orang mahasiswa yang bernama: David Filo dan Jerry Yang. Pada saat itu Yahoo dibuat sebagai salah satu bentuk untuk menyalurkan aktifitas online mereka.

Pada saat mahasiswa Universitas Stanford sedang liburan, kebetulan juga seorang profesor pengajar sedang pergi ke luar kota karena sedang menempuh libur cuti besar. Mahasiswa teknik David Filo dan Jerry Yang yang sedang mendapatkan tugas yang harus melakukan penjelajahan melalui internet.

Secara kebetulan mereka menemukan cara yang efektif untuk mengumpulkan sebuah daftar bookmark yang besar, yang kemudian dikelompokkan berdasarkan subyek tertentu. Dari sinilah lahir ide, untuk membuat bentuk online dari ide ini. Kemudian merekapun membuat sebuah program database untuk menerapkan ide tersebut.

Dari sinilah cikal bakal lahirnya Yahoo!.Yahoo kemudian berkembang dan menjadi sangat popular. Pada tahun 1994, Yahoo telah mencapai akses sejuta dalam satu hari, yaitu dengan 100 ribu pengunjung. Pada saat ini Yahoo adalah salah satu Web Favorite yang di akses oleh lebih 400 juta lebih pengunjung dalam setiap bulannya.