Not only do the following tips work on Google, but also on several other search engines, like DuckDuckGo which I use frequently.
The quotation marks
This is the most common function to refine a search. When you put your search terms in quotes, you are telling the search engine to search for all of the words.
For example, instead of searching wireless keyboard Or jacket for dog without quotation marks, your requests will be much more precise by submitting them with the English quotation marks: “jacket for dog”.
Exclude terms
Sometimes, to avoid confusion and inappropriate or unnecessary results, use the hyphen (-) or negative symbol in front of one or more words to exclude them from the search.
Ex: mustang -car -car -ford
As here, you will get results aimed at the mustang horse, and not those relating to the sports car from the manufacturer Ford.
The colon: to search within a specific website
This command limits the search to only the requested website, such as here with the French site of Apple Canada to obtain manufacturer pages only on the AirTag tracking chips or that of the Montreal Journal to read all the articles dealing with the country’s public debt. Type the terms followed by the command “site:address”. Example :
airtag site:www.apple.com/ca/en/
public debt canada site:www.journaldemontreal.com
All other AirTag search results will be removed and you will harvest all articles from the Log on Canadian debt. If you need to find specific content on a particular site, this is the shortcut to use.
For a missing word, use the symbol *
The asterisk character is one of the most useful in the list, for example to find the lyrics of a song or a recipe whose name escapes you. Here’s how it works.
When you use an asterisk in a search term on Google, it leaves a blank space that can be automatically filled in by the search engine later.
Ex: a lot of * for nothing
Find similar sites
A handy, but less common command, it’s possible to find sites similar to the one you like to check out; for example, your favorite online store does not have the product you were looking for, then this function will show you other similar stores. Type the command related: follow the website like here to find other stores like Staples:
related:staples.ca
There are many other examples of search types on Google. In most cases, these search commands are similar to those of databases.