Google Advanced Operator Rules

Before learning Google's more advanced operators, we have to keep in mind some general rules.

Advanced operator syntax

An advanced operator has the following syntax: advanced_operator:search_term or advanced_operator:"search_phrase". These are the only two correct ways to use an advanced operator.

There cannot be any spaces between the advanced operator, the colon, and the search term or search phrase. A space between any of them will change the advanced operator into a search term.

Example of correct usage: inurl:money. All results have the word 'money' in their URL. Add a space in between: inurl :money, the inurl operator becomes a search term. Try it.

The search term or phrase to be used with an advanced operator follows the same general search rules.

Basic operators that are added in front of a search term will be ignored. Example: inurl:+money is the same as inurl:money. Another example: inurl: +money. inurl becomes a search term and 'money' becomes just an ordinary forced-include search term.

Basic operator combos

Combination of an advanced operator with multiple search terms that use basic operators follow the basic operator rules that has been covered until now.

A correct example: insurance +inurl:money -bank. Submitting this tells Google to show results that has 'insurance' in title, text or URL, to show results that must have 'money' in URL, and not to show results that has 'bank' in title, text, or URL.

Using the + operator with an advanced operator search phrase will invalidate the function of the advanced operator. Compare these two results: inurl:"money tree" and +inurl:"money tree".

Advanced operator combos

Advanced operators can be combined into a single search and basic operators can be used as well. They follow the general search rules and the basic operator rules. However, do take note that not all advanced operators can be combined and some advanced operators cannot be combined at all.

Google Wildcard Operators

First off, for the benefit of non-geeks (and those who have never played Uno before), a wildcard is a single character used to represent a set of pre-defined characters or words. A single character wildcard represents a single character, and a single word wildcard represents a single word. Google accepts both single character and single word wildcards.

The * operator

The * (asterisk) operator is the Google single word wildcard. Try this example and compare the results: world round and world * round. With the * operator, Google will attempt to keep the order of words while matching the wildcard word.

You can also use double quotes with wildcards for a semi-flexible phrase search. For example, "* white and the * *" forces Google to include the common words, match at least the same number of words, and keep the order of those words.

Use the * operator to represent 'normal' words or you will end up with unpredictable results. Avoid using it for single characters or symbols.

Do not use a wildcard for a group of missing letters within a word. It is better to rely on Google to provide alternatives for a search term that is mis-spelled or cannot be found.

Note that Google may not provide alternatives for extremely uncommon words or words that are of different language from the Google native language you set.

The . operator

Google recognizes the . (period) as a single character wildcard. It is normally used in combination with other operators or with multiple search terms.

There are three rules in the wildcard representation. (1) It is used to represent any printable or extended ASCII character when searching URLs, (2) it represents any printable or extended ASCII character except alphabets and numbers when searching titles and text, and (3) it represents any printable or extended ASCII character except alphabets and numbers when searching URLs with the inurl operator.

Confusing? To keep things simple and results predictable, use the . operator only for wildcard symbols. Based on my experience, the . operator is best used to (1) loosely couple multiple search terms together, such as for general queries: how.to.get.to.city.hall, (2) to replace hypens and spaces in serial number based queries such as CAB.12569.X, and also (3) for source code related searches.

Summary

Pareto Principle - here's the 20% takeaway that gives you the 80% effect: Use the * operator as a wildcard for a single word, and use the . operator as a wildcard for a single symbol.

Google Inclusion and Phrase Operators

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.

Google Boolean Operators

There are three types of Boolean operators recognized by Google. They are the OR, AND and NOT operators.

The OR operator

The OR operator is used to include either one search term or the other in a query. The syntax is 'OR' or '' (pipe symbol). Try this as example: 'fame fortune' and 'fame OR fortune'.

The AND operator

The AND operator is used to include more than one search term in a single query. The syntax is 'AND' or ' ' (space). By default, Google includes all search terms submitted. Therefore, submitting 'hotel AND cheap AND good' is almost the same as submitting 'hotel cheap good'. Try it. Notice there's a slight difference in the search results. The search terms are grouped more closely without the AND operator and vice-versa.

The NOT operator

The extermely useful NOT operator is used to exclude search terms in the results. The syntax is '-' (minus sign) followed immediately by the search term to exclude. Here's an example: 'windows' and 'windows -microsoft'.

Google queries are not case-sensitive, with the exception of the OR and AND operators. Google recognizes 'OR' as the OR operator, and 'or', 'oR' and 'Or' as a search term, i.e. the word 'or'. Google will display very different results for 'tiger OR rabbit' and 'tiger or rabbit'. Try it.

Notice something missing in the 'tiger or rabbit' search results? Most likely, the 'or' search term is missing. Google ignores very common words. What if, under certain circumstances, you would like to include 'or' as a search term?

Use the + operator or double quotes - read more here: Inclusion and Phrase.