Datasheet

There are four questions you should ask yourself before doing your search. If you keep the answers to these
questions in mind when you search, the results will be much closer to those you were looking for:
n
What are you looking for? Conceptualize your search by finding the right keywords or create the
right search expression.
n
Do your keywords have synonyms or related terms? If so, you might want to think about
using them.
n
Does your search expression have the correct syntax and use the right search operators?
n
After your search, were the results relevant to your query? If not, go back and try refining your
keywords and search expression in step 3.
Additional features that can assist you in focusing your search are the ability to search similar pages and
restricting your search to a single site.
n
Similar Pages: Google displays a link under each search result called Similar Pages. This link
takes you to pages that are relevant to your search result and most like that particular result.
n
Site Search: You can restrict your search to a single site or domain. Type your keywords, then
type the word site:, making certain to include a colon, followed by the site address — for exam-
ple, firefox site:mozilla.com.
Setting Search Preferences
There are five global preferences you can change. These include
n
Interface Language
n
Search Language
n
Safe Search Filtering
n
Number of Results
n
Results Window
If you go to the Google main page (
www.google.com) you see three links next to the box where you type
the search expression. One of these is the Preferences link. Clicking this link takes you to a page where you
can modify the way Google delivers its search results.
Changing your preferences will apply to all Google services.
Setting languages
The first preference, Interface Language, allows you to select from among the 119 different languages of
which Google is capable to display tips and messages. All Google pages will be displayed in the language
you select, not including Google search results.
See Chapter 23 to learn more about setting language preferences in Google.
The Search Language preference allows you to choose which language Google uses to perform its Web page
search. Results will include Web pages written in your selected language. There are two options: You can
search for pages written in any language, or you can search only for pages written in the languages you
CROSS-REF
CROSS-REF
TIP
TIP
12
Navigating Google Information
Part I
06_097120 ch01.qxp 2/1/07 9:26 PM Page 12