Performing a Typical Search

The first question most people will have about this section is what constitutes a typical search. A typical search is one that you make without considering any optimization. You just enter some query words, a few special characters , and perhaps some Boolean terms, such as OR, to make the query. I consider this a typical search because most people use this kind of search until they really begin to understand Google.

Note  

This book uses the term query word to refer to a special word that you use to make a Google query. You'll discover the query words that Google currently supports while reading this chapter. A keyword expresses what you want to look for with Google. For example, when you want to search for candles , you might include the word votive as a keyword.

You'll normally enter all of the information for a typical search on a single line. Most people begin at the Google home page (http://www.google.com/) shown in Figure 2.1. However, you can also use the Address field of your browser when you make Google your default search site or you can use one of the toolbars available at http://www.google.com/options/. Notice also that the home page lets you access the various tools that Google provides, along with the Advanced Search page.

Figure 2.1: The Google home page provides access to a simple search as well as tools and services.

No matter where you begin, a typical search relies on the basics to obtain a result. The following sections describe a typical search in detail.

Understanding the Search Parameters

The search parameters define how Google interprets your search request. You already know from the "Conducting an Expansion Search" section of Chapter 1 that the order of the keywords is important, as are the precise terms that you use. Many people make the mistake of ordering keywords using their own priority. The goal is to obtain the correct results from Google, so experimentation helps in determining how Google will treat a specific search term. When you create an application using Google Web Services, it pays to spend time online learning what combination of position and terminology obtains the results you want.

It's frustrating to enter keywords that you think will work, but don't provide the results you want. In some cases, your choice of keywords is just fine, but other people use a synonym (a word that means about the same thing as your keyword). Google provides an undocumented synonym search (described in the "Using a Synonym Search" section of the chapter) that you can use, but the synonym search doesn't always work. When this problem occurs, you can always try an online thesaurus to help you come up with new words that mean about the same as the keyword you want. One of my favorite online thesaurus sites is Thesaurus.com at http://thesaurus.reference.com/.

Performing a Boolean Search

It's possible to create an argument for Google based on a Boolean search. A Boolean search relies on terms such as NOT, OR, and AND to define an interpretation of the keywords. For example, you could search for floral bouquet OR arrangement to search for floral bouquet or floral arrangement. Notice that the Boolean value is in uppercase. Searching for floral bouquet OR arrangement returns 860,000 results, while floral bouquet or arrangement returns only 114,000 results because Google doesn't see "or" as a Boolean term. Adding OR means that either term can exist and still return a result.

Google always assumes that you mean AND between keywords, so you never actually use the word AND in a search. However, it's important to understand that if you don't add the word OR, you're using the word AND. Using AND means that both terms must exist to return a result.

The NOT query word isn't documented and you might find that it doesn't work at some point. Google also provides a special symbol you can use for NOT ”see the "Excluding Terms" section of the chapter for details. Generally, you'll want to use the special symbol and simply remember that it equates to NOT in a Boolean search. Adding NOT before a term means that Google won't include that word in the search.