Submit tiger or rabbit to Google search. Notice that Google removes the word 'or' from the search terms. In fact, Google ignores very common words. What if, under certain circumstances, you would like to include the word 'or' as a search term?
There are two tricks to force Google to include a search term:
The + operator
The + operator is the opposite of the NOT operator. It forces Google to include a search term within a query. Just add a '+' immediately before the term you would like to include.
For example, try this: tiger or rabbit versus tiger +or rabbit. Note that the number of hits is significantly different between the two queries. Use this operator wisely, to your own advantage, to expand or narrow down your search results.
The double quotes
Encasing a search term with double quotes (") is functionally the same as adding the + operator in front of the term. Submitting tiger +or rabbit and tiger "or" rabbit will result in identical number of hits and results.
Encasing multiple search terms within double quotes results in an exact phrase search. An exact phrase includes all search terms and takes into account the order of the search terms. Try these and note the difference in results: "tiger or rabbit" and "rabbit tiger or".
You should use the + operator instead of double quotes if strict order of words is not desired. Try these: +tiger +or +rabbit and +rabbit +tiger +or. Both show identical results.
An additional note: Google recognizes an empty space within the double quotes as the single character wildcard. Try these search phrases: "tiger or rabbit" and "tiger.or.rabbit". Google displays identical results for both these search phrases.
