Best Google Search Tips & Operators [Poll]

Although most of us use Google on a daily basis only few people really know about various useful search operators that Google offers. There is a lot more to this tiny search field than you might think.

Google Search Operators

I assume you already know that Google can be also used as calculator, currency converter and even measurement unit converter. But what about using Google to search for nearby pizzerias or checking movie showtimes in local cinemas.

Best Google Search Tips

Basically, there are several handy Google search operators that you can make use of on a daily basis. Today we ask you to vote on your top 5, the ones you find extremely useful and use (or at least see yourself using) on a regular basis. And if you’re one of those who has no idea about search operators here is your chance to learn a few.

Please Vote!

Did we miss your favorite search operator? Add it in comments.

You can find get more details on specific search oprator here and here.

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Aibek Esengulov

The guy behind MakeUseOf.com. Follow him and MakeUseOf on Twitter @MakeUseOf. For more details check out MakeUseOf about page.

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  • Marco

    Great poll ! Had no idea about at least half of them.

  • Paige

    Agree with Marco – I didn’t know anything about half of these!! Awesome!!

  • Kevin Buchs

    When you want to only include results that match all the search terms provided, it seems you now need to use the Advanced Search box. Year’s ago, Google used to provide a relevance ranking. Now, many of the websites returned only contain a small subset of the terms unless you use Advanced Search.

  • Saikat Basu

    My fav operator would be two;
    1. The ~ Operator —> The tilde operator searches for all possible similar meanings,alternatives etc etc.

    2. * Operator —> It’s like a wild card. I use it to search for cliches, phrases where I have forgotten some of the words in between.

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      Thanks for sharing those, I knew about * but almost never used it. As about ~ operator I found about it only last week, tried a couple of searches and it seemed pretty useful.

  • http://www.layersmagazine.com Annie Cushing

    With package tracking, all you need to enter in Google is the tracking number. You don’t need to put the carrier. I use this all the time. :)

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      well, that makes it even better. Thanks for heads up. ;-)

  • DrUskov

    1) Filetype search is one of my favorites for tracking down free research and white papers. Combined with a site search, can be pretty useful at finding that research paper that you vaguely remember seeing.

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      You should also check out PDF search engines that I mentioned in my best sites for ebooks article.

  • Brian

    My favorite and most often used is the minus(-) operator which excludes unwanted terms.

    Also a big fan of allintitle:

  • http://google-expert-tips.blogspot.com/ pps

    Thanks for the cool tips!