Google-fu means “skill in using search engines (especially Google ) to quickly find useful information on the Internet”. Sometimes we have a hard time yielding any effective results when using a search engine, however, there is a technique referred to as Google-fu that will help us to find more specific results.

google-fu

Source: Google Images

In this post, I will show you some crucial tips for refining your Google-fu.

Modifiers

Google Search is always case-insensitive and usually ignores punctuation that isn’t part of a search.

  • "exact word or phrase" — quotation
    • force an exact-match search with all characters and in the order specified
    • "awesome python"
  • (search groups) — parentheses
  • OR — logical word
    • “OR” must be in ALL-CAPS, you can use the pipe symbol (|) alternatively if your CapsLock is broken :)
    • python OR r
  • - — exclusion
    • place immediately before the certain term you want to leave out
    • python -snake
  • + — inclusion
    • give priority to the precisely used term to force Google to return which might be discarded
    • python +snake — Don’t click if you’re afraid of snakes 🐍
  • .. — number range
  • * — asterisk
    • act as a wildcard to replace any single word or leave blank
    • data * job
  • ~ — tilde
  • to or in
    • convert measurements from one unit to another
    • 1 BTC to USD
  • @ search social media, $ search price, # search hashtag

Operators

Syntax: operator:search_term. Don’t put spaces between the operator and your search term.

  • site:
    • restrict search results to a specific domain, it only accepts full domain, root domain, and Top-Level Domain (TLD)
    • site:.edu data science
  • related:
    • return sites that are related to a target domain, it only works for large domains
    • related:python.org
  • link:
    • find pages with links to a target domain, only provides a sample of backlinks
    • link:google.com
  • cache:
  • filetype:
  • intitle: and allintitle:
  • intext: and allintext
    • return only results that match in the page’s body/document text
  • inurl: and allinurl:
    • return only results that match in the page’s URL text
  • inanchor: and allinanchor:
    • return only results that match in the page’s anchor text or links

Combos

Having all the pieces is only the first step in building a puzzle. The real power of Google-fu comes from combos.

Others

Google is more than a search engine.

Go to Advanced Image Search, and narrow your results using filters like image size, file type, and even specific colors. It is also available for many of the aforementioned tips.

Also, you can perform a reverse image search on most browsers. Go to Google Images and click camera icon. You can find results include — search results for objects in the image, similar images, and websites with the image or a similar image.

Google Trends lets you explore what the world is searching for by entering terms or topics. It displays interest in a particular search from around the globe or down to city-level geography and uses graphs to compare the search volume of different queries over time. There are some search tips for trends.

Google Alerts

Google Alerts is a way to create custom alerts that will notify you any time new results match your search term.

Google News

Google News is a personalized news aggregator that organizes and highlights what’s happening in the world.

Tools

  • Dictionary: Put define: in front of an unfamiliar word for a quick definition.
  • Calculator: Just type in the expression for quick math problems without bothering your local calculator.
    • pi, also provide an interactive calculator
    • sin(x)/y create interactive 3D virtual objects using “x” and “y” as free variables
  • Timer: Just search timer to launch an embedded timer tool. Note: It will emit a loud beeping sound when it hits zero.

Games

A host of fun built-in games you can access by Googling them. E.g., play snake and play PAC-MAN.

Easter Eggs

Here are a few cool Easter Eggs, hiding there until you stumble upon them.

Caution: Don’t Trust Google Search Results Blindly!

Any limitations? You may try Fagan Finder to get around.

🔍 Happy Searching! 🔎