The Many Faces of Google
This is an advanced topic not covered in the introductory course. Please skip to Part II: Understanding Search Result unless you're an experienced Google user.
You can specify most of the Advanced Search page options in a regular search box query by using advanced operators, i.e., query words that have special meaning to Google. Since the advanced operators are convenient for searching, The Many Faces of Google calls them "search operators." Most users find that making use of the Advanced Search page, instead of using search operators directly, fulfills their specialized search needs. Search operators tend to be used by people who prefer to type commands rather than filling in forms.
Note: The colon (":") following the operator name is mandatory. Some of the search operators won't work as intended if you put a space between the colon and the subsequent query word. If you always place the keyword immediately next to the colon, however, you can't go wrong. Many search operators can appear anywhere in your query. In our examples, the search operator is placed as far to the right as possible. This convention makes it clearer as to which operators are associated with which terms.
The following table lists features available on the Advanced Search page that are accessible via search operators.
Advanced Search
Features
| Search
Operators
|
| File Format
| filetype:
|
Occurrences
in the title of the page
in the text of the page
in the URL of the page
in the links to the page
|
allintitle:
allintext:
allinurl:
allinanchor:
|
| Domain
| site:
|
| Similar
| related:
|
| Links
| link:
|
The following is an alphabetical list of the search operators. This
list includes operators that are not in Google's online help.
Each entry typically includes the syntax, the capabilities, and an
example.
- allinanchor:
-
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.
- allintext:
-
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.
- allintitle:
-
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.
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.
- allinurl:
-
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 the URL. 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.
- author: (works only in Google Groups)
-
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@someaddress.com ] return articles that contain the word
"children" written by John Doe or doe@someaddress.com.
Google will search for exactly what you specify. If your query
contains [ author:"John Doe" ], Google won't find articles where the
author is specified as "Doe, John."
- bphonebook:
-
If you start your query with bphonebook:, Google shows business
white page listings for the query terms you specify. For
example, [ bphonebook:jammer trenton ] will show the phonebook listing
for Jammer Doors in Trenton.
- cache:
-
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.princetonol.com ] will show Google's cached
version of the Princeton On-Line home page.
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.princetonol.com newsletter events ]
will show Google's cached version of the Princeton On-line page with the words newletter and events highlighted.
- define:
-
If you start your query with define:, Google shows definitions
from pages on the web for the terms that follow in the specified order. 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).
- ext:
-
This is an undocumented alias for filetype:.
- filetype:
-
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 the File Type Conversion
section.
- group: (works only in Google Groups)
-
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 groups:misc.kids.moderated ]
will return articles in the group misc.kids.moderated that contain the
word "sleep" and [ sleep groups:misc.kids ] will return articles in the
subarea misc.kids that contain the word "sleep."
- id:
-
This is an undocumented alias for info:.
- inanchor:
-
If you include inanchor: in your query, Google will restrict the
results to pages containing the query terms you specify in the anchor 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."
- info:
-
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.
- insubject: (works only in Google Groups)
-
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.
Equivalent to intitle:.
- intext:
-
The query intext:term restricts results to documents
containing term in the text. For instance, [ Victor Laurie intext:right-click ]
will return documents that contain the word "right-click" in the text, and
mention the names "Victor" and "Laurie" anywhere in the document (text or not).
Putting intext: in front of every word in your query is equivalent
to putting allintext: at the front of your query, e.g., [ intext:right-click
intext:mouse ] is the same as [ allintext: right-click mouse ].
- intitle:
-
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).
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 ].
- inurl:
-
If you include inurl: in your query, Google will restrict the results
to documents containing that word in the url. For instance,
[ inurl:healthy eating ] will return documents that mention the words
"healthy" in their url, and mention the word "eating" anywhere in the
document (url or no).
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:.
- link:
-
The query link:URL shows pages that point to that
URL. For example, to find pages that point to the Ewing SeniorNet home page
home page, enter:
[ link:www.ewingsnet.com ]
Note: The link: and the related: operators cannot be combined with any
other query terms or operators.
- location: (works only in Google News)
-
If you include location: in your query on Google News, only articles
from the location you specify will be returned. For example, [ queen location:uk ] will show articles that match the term "queen" from
sites in the United Kingdom.
- msgid: (works only in Google Groups)
-
If you include msgid: in your query, Google will restrict your
Google Groups results to newsgroup articles with the specified message ID.
For example, [ msgid:<hamishxyz-B270D1.09001126112003@news.supernews.com> ]
will return the article whose message id is <hamishxyz-B270D1.09001126112003@news.supernews.com>.
- phonebook:
-
If you start your query with phonebook:, Google shows all white page
listings for the query terms you specify. For example, [ phonebook: Krispy Kreme New York ] will show the phonebook listing of Krispy
Kreme donut shops in New York.
- related:
-
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.
- rphonebook:
-
If you start your query with rphonebook:, Google shows residential
white page listings for the query terms you specify. For
example, [ rphonebook:j may titusville nj ] will show the phonebook
listing for Joel May in Titusville, NJ.
- site:
-
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.
You can use many of the search operators in conjunction with
the basic search operators +, -, OR, " ." 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.
- source: (works only in Google News)
-
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 with the word
"election" that appear in the New York Times.
You can also specify the publication name in the "news source" field in the Advanced News Search
form.
- stocks:
-
If you start your query with stocks:, Google will interpret the
rest of
the query terms as stock ticker symbols, and will link to a page
showing stock information for the symbols you specify. For instance,
[ stocks:yhoo goog ] will show information about Yahoo
and Google. Note: Specify ticker symbols not
company names. If you enter an invalid ticker symbol, you'll be told
so and taken to a page where you can look up a valid ticker
symbol. You can also obtain stock information by entering one or more
NYSE, NASDAQ, AMEX, or mutual fund ticker symbols in Google's query
box, e.g., [ yhoo goog ] and then clicking on the "Show stock quotes"
link that appears near the top of the results page.
- store: (works only in Froogle)
-
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.
The following table lists the search operators that work with each
Google search service.
| Search Service
| Search Operators
|
| Web Search
|
allinanchor:,
allintext:,
allintitle:,
allinurl:,
bphonebook:,
cache:,
ext:,
define:,
filetype:,
id:,
inanchor:,
info:,
intext:,
intitle:,
inurl:,
link:,
phonebook:,
related:,
rphonebook:,
site:,
stocks:
|
| Image Search
|
allintitle:,
allinurl:,
filetype:,
inurl:,
intitle:,
site:
|
| Groups
|
allintext:,
allintitle:,
author:,
group:,
insubject:,
intext:,
intitle:,
msgid:
|
| Directory
|
allintext:,
allintitle:,
allinurl:,
ext:,
filetype:,
intext:,
intitle:,
inurl:
|
| News
|
allintext:,
allintitle:,
allinurl:,
intext:,
intitle:,
inurl:,
location:,
source:
|
| Froogle
|
allintext:,
allintitle:,
store:
|
The following table lists the search operators grouped by type. I include
search operators not yet documented by Google, e.g.,
allinanchor:,
allintext:,
author:,
ext:,
group:,
id:,
insubject:,
intext:,
intitle:,
location:,
phonebook:,
source:,
and
store:.
Be forewarned that Google may change how undocumented operators work or
eliminate them completely.
|
Search Operators
| Short Description
|
Restrict search
site:
link:
filetype:
|
Restrict results to a website or domain
Find pages that link to a web page
Find documents of the specified type
|
Restrict search to
sites where query
words appear
allinanchor:
inanchor:
allintext:
intext:
allintitle:
intitle:
allinurl:
inurl:
author:
group:
insubject:
msgid:
location:
store:
|
All query words must appear in links to the page
Terms must appear in links to the page
All query words must appear in the text of the page
The terms must appear in the text of the page
All query words must appear in the title
The terms must appear in the title of the page
All query words must appear in the URL
The terms must appear in the URL of the page
Find Groups messages from the specified author
Find Groups messages from the specified newsgroup
Find Groups messages with the specified subject
Find Groups messages with the specified msgid
Find News articles from sources located in the specified location
Find Froogle products from the specified store
|
Alternate query types
cache:
info:
related:
|
Show cached version of web page
Find information about a web page
List web pages similar the specified web page
|
Specialized Information
Queries
define:
phonebook:
bphonebook:
rphonebook:
stocks:
|
Provide definitions for words, phrases, and acronyms
Show all phonebook listings
Show business phonebook listings
Show residential phonebook listings
Given ticker symbols, show stock information
|
Using More than One Search Operator
You may use many of the basic operators and search operators with each other. However, there are some that must be used by themselves and others that you should be careful about using together.
-
Search Operators that Can't Be Combined
There are about a dozen search operators that can't be combined with any other. If you do, Google probably won't return any matching documents. Search operators that shouldn't be mixed include:
- All the search operators whose names begin with "allin," e.g., allinanchor:, allintext:, allintitle:, and allinurl:.
- Syntaxes that request special information, e.g., define:, phonebook, bphonebook, rphonebook, stocks:.
- Page-specific search operators, e.g., cache:, info:, link:, related:.
-
Combine Search Operators Carefully
Be careful not to cancel out the effect of a search operator when including more than one in your query. Here are some rules to follow:
- Don't use search operators that will cancel each other out. For example, [ admission site:stanford.edu -inurl:stanford ] searches for pages that are on the site stanford.edu that do not contain the string "stanford" in their URL or web addresses. None fit the bill.
- Take care not to exclude all results when using certain search operators more than once in a query. For example, [ sleep recommendations site:edu site:cdc.gov ] will not return any sleep recommendation since the query looks for results appearing on both the .edu domain and the cdc.gov sites simultaneously. If you want results from both, include OR between the two site: specifications, i.e., [ sleep recommendations site:edu OR site:cdc.gov ]. Search operators that should either be used once in a query or in combination with OR include: filetype: site:, and group:.
- Focus your search by using several search operators. For example, [ intext:e-mail intitle:security -site:microsoft.com ] finds pages whose titles contain the word "security," with the word "e-mail" on the text of the page and not on the site microsoft.com.
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 in the Appendix.
- Use the site: operator to search for armchairs on Ikea's site, www.ikea.com.
- 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" ].
- 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."
- Use the link: operator to see who links to ewingsnet.com or your favorite website.
- Find pages whose titles include surfing that are not about surfing the World Wide Web.
- Find out where the upcoming international conference on AIDS is being held.
