Using Google To Search The Web.

Google is far more advanced than the average user might think and there are many ways to search something and come back with different results. The Google search and retrieval process is outlined below.

User searches > Google's web server > Google's index server (indexes per search term) > Document retrieval server > Displays on your screen.

A user types in his or her search query and it passes via HTTP to Google's web server. The information from the search query is parsed and is broken down into individual search terms (keywords) by the Index server. From here, the information is located and passed to the Doc server (document server). The links are collected along with the descriptive text found on the bottom of each of the results. This information is then returned to the user's screen.

A lot of processing is accomplished within the blink of an eye between the time you enter your search query and the time you view the results. The unbelievable retrieval speed is not only possible through many powerful servers that Google has available for search results but also from Google's advanced engineering team.

When searching Google, there are many available operators to fine-tune your search. Feel free to click the Search button after each explanation to view first-hand the results of each operator.  Searches will open in a new window.

Basic

Operator	Example	Explanation
OR	desktop OR laptop	Search will locate either desktop OR laptop. Not both terms.
AND	desktop AND laptop	Search will locate documents containing both terms. Both words must be found but not neccessarily together or in this order.
" "	"desktop and laptop"	Search will locate only documents that contain the words desktop and laptop if they appear together in the order that was searched.  Quotes make the query literal.
-	desktop -laptop	Search will locate documents that contain the word desktop only if the document doesn't also contain the word laptop.
+	laptop + memory	Search will locate documents that contain laptop and memory .  Both terms must be present in the document for it to be returned.
~	~tv set	Search will bring back results for documents that contain tv, television, etc.  The ~ will search synonyms of the following term.

Mathematics

Operator	Example	Explanation
*, -, +, /, %, ^	5 * 5 + 2^3	You can use Google's search as a home calculator by using any of the operators to the left.

Advanced

Operator	Example	Explanation
site	desktop site: www.bestbuy.com	Search will locate documents within the web site URL the user provided for the search term entered. If a URL is provided, results will not be searched elsewhere.
date	desktop date: 1	Search will locate documents that contain desktop that have been updated in the past 1 month.  This is great to search recent news reports or newspapers.
safesearch	safesearch: teen help	Safesearch is a built-in feature to allow questionable search queries to bring back g-rated material. This will prevent adult sites from appearing in your results for using teen in your query.
link	link: www.go.com	Results will display all known links to the URL www.go.com .  This is a popular tool among web masters who wish to find out who is linking to their web site.
info	info: www.go.com	Information regarding the web site will be retrieved.
related	related: www.go.com	Related web sites of the URL provided will be displayed.