Search with Google and the operators
In the previous article in the blog series about recent changes to Google, we reported on the change in the results window and the influence of the results by the Google algorithm. We came across the old operator+ and the use of double quotes. In part 2 of the blog series about Google changes, we list a number of Google operators. What works, what still works if you do it a little differently, what no longer works, and what you should pay attention to.
To show everything on screen, we have recorded a number of videos.
Search method with Google (and other search engines)
In this blog, we state that you can be creative with operators and that results are sometimes different than you expect. But how do you see all that so quickly? Of course, that is a matter of experience, or in other words, doing a lot. It is useful to use a method while using a search engine so that you can see more quickly that an operator does not work as you would expect.
- First type the correct search words and take a moment before you press Enter. After that, you are inclined to click. It would be a shame if you didn't use the right keywords.
- Are you searching in Dutch or English (larger reach) or another language?
- Put the words in order of relevance. Fortunately, it doesn't matter that much anymore, but it still affects the ranking.
- After the Enter, look at the number of results. With Google, you now have to click on Tools to make these visible, they are then at the top right.
- Are your results too many or too little then amend your keywords.
- If you are satisfied with the number, go through the list and first see if you can do some degree of validation, such as source validation and time validation. In other words, estimate how reliable the website is and how current the message is. If a link is not reliable enough or the message is too old, you can choose to skip that result.
- Don't limit yourself to the 2 lines of text in the result, but click through and then read on.
By applying this method during your search, you will not only get better results faster, but you will also notice if Google does things a little differently than you expect.
Of course, we will not go through all the operators, but we will keep it to a limited number. We will take you through an advanced search so that you can find all the operators yourself and we will also go through the toolbar with you.
Site
Let's start where we commented on last time, a message on LinkedIn that we posted about the use of the site operator and the fact that results were omitted. Google responded immediately by indicating that this was an error in their software and immediately after that the site operator worked as before. Or did it?
The site operator is very powerful, but also an operator with sometimes strange behaviour. With the site operator you can limit your search queries to a part of the World Wide Web. Other operators that you can use for this purpose are inurl, intitle, but also searching in region. More about that later, now first the site: operator.
If you want to limit your search results to a specific website, for example philips.nl, then type your search term(s) and add site:philips.nl, for example: light site:philips.nl. By the way, you can also start with the site operator, that doesn't matter. You can even replace the .nl with a wildcard, the * character, so site:philips.*. Your search query will then also show results from, for example, philips.com and philips.be.
You can also use the site: operator to show everything that Google has indexed from a site. You don't enter a search term but only use the site: operator. For example: site:dataexpert.nl.
Note that you won't get everything from the website, but everything that Google has indexed. Very useful if someone has recently removed parts of their website. Just ask the site: operator what is still in the Google database. The site: operator can also be used to get an overview of a website without going to the website itself, of course, you should not click on results, not even via the cache functionality. In the first part of this blog, we already wrote that the cache can no longer be reached via the well-known 3 dots at the end of a result, but that you can still use the cache: operator.
But why did we write that Google had fixed an error and that the site operator worked as usual again, immediately followed by the question: "Or not?" Let's take a look at that:
When you google crypto site:t.me, you search the Google database for results with the word crypto within the site t.me, or in other words search for crypto in a part of the telegram messages. The number of results at the time of writing this piece is two. Another search engine like Bing shows a lot more. Wouldn't there be more in Google then? A quick investigation on the t.me website into the robots.txt shows that this instrument is not used to make Google index less. So what is going on? If you change the search query and instead of "All" only search for "Images", it will show a lot more results and by clicking on the image and then visiting the site via the link, it shows that Google has indeed indexed more. The option Verbatim or Word-for-word, as we discussed last time, also doesn't show more. By playing around with the search query, we eventually get a lot more results via Google. The search query we use is site:t.*, but because we then also get results from t.cn and t.ly, we exclude them again with the minus operator. The full search query then becomes: site:t.* -t.cn -t.ly. No higher mathematics, just playing around with the operators suddenly gives a better result. Of course you can also choose another search engine such as Bing, but we think this is a nice example of how creatively dealing with operators can help you take a step further.
At the time of writing, we do not yet know whether the exclusion of results is caused by a policy or whether it is yet another error in the Google software.
If you think that this only applies to searching for crypto within the Telegram sites, we have to disappoint you. In the video that goes with this blog we will also show another example.
We are looking for the golden tip!
If, while reading this article, you think "I have a solution for that within the Google search engine on the web", please let us know and email marketing@dataexpert.nl. The first 10 people who email a solution or tip will receive a nice DataExpert goodie sent. We will of course mention the golden tips in a subsequent blog.
“Double quotes”
In the previous article we promised to come back on the use of double quotes and the plus operator. We can be brief about the plus operator, it is no longer used by Google! Its counterpart, the minus operator, is. We have already shown you an example of this in the paragraph Site: -site:t.ly. Of course you can use the minus operator on almost all search arguments, it is just a matter of trying it out. Search for: bonbons -chocolate or for example bonbons -inurl:nl.
For the plus operator we now use double quotes, although they can be a bit confusing. If you look in Google Advanced you will see “exact word” or “exact phrase”. In practice it means you need to give Google the instruction that this word, or a derivative thereof, must appear in your results according to the Google search logic. So results with plural, similar terms, word forms, etc. are also shown. If you don't want that, use the double quotes in combination with the previously discussed Verbatim search option. In addition, you can also use a wildcard within the double quotes. Searching for: "frank * janssen" will also give you a Frank-Paul Janssen, for example.
In our next article, we will see if we can limit our results to a specific area and we will get started with Google Advanced Search and the Google URL.
In the video below, DataExpert senior trainer Frank Kolenbrander shows the above-described actions with operators.
If this topic has piqued your interest and you want to follow training to further develop your skills in the field of OSINT research, view our training offering here.
Keep an eye out for the next newsletter for Part 3 of this blog series about developments at Google.