Use the latest search tools to find
what you need without even trying
For most of us, searching for something
online involves typing a word or phrase into Google. But Google doesn’t have
all the answers and, in any case, doesn’t present search results equally. It’s
been criticized by the EU for giving prominence to results that appear in its
own services. Nonetheless, for general searches, such as addresses and publicly
available facts, Google or its main rivals Bing (www.bing.com)
and Yahoo (www.yahoo.com) will probably find
the web link you need.
Bing
search
Finding items that are not often searched
for, that have few or no links from other sites, or are on infrequently updated
webpages is more of a challenge. It can also be frustrating to get results
based on your previous searches. This usually happens because the search engine
tries to be too clever and second-guess what you wanted to know.
In the next few pages we’ll uncover ways to
dig deeper into the web to get at hidden sites and use new search tools to find
everything faster.
Brilliant new Google tools
With Google you can customize almost every
element of your search experience. If you allow it to, Google will use your
contact list, emails, previous web searches, locations, calendar entries and
appointments to provide you with a highly tailored search. You need to sign
into your Google account (the same one you use for Gmail, YouTube and Blogger)
and set Google as your search engine in the dropdown menu in your browser bar
in Internet Explorer or Firefox Chrome users won’t need to select Google here
as it’s the default search engine.
Google
search on Smartphone
When you’re signed into Google, it will use
your search history and any connected Google services you allow to provide a
more focused search. To manage your settings, click Account, Dashboard and
enter your Google password. Under Security go to ‘Connected applications and
sites’ to revoke access to any that shouldn’t be able to access your account.
In Products you can review settings for Google services you use. For example,
if you enable Latitude to share your location details you’ll be able to get
up-to-the-minute traffic and weather information.
Use Google Now to organize your day
Google Now is built into Google search on
smartphones running Android 4.1 or later. To enable it, tap the search box or
open the Google app from the Apps list. Tap Settings and switch on Google Now.
You must give Google permission to analyze your email and calendar entries.
It’s your choice how much more you share, but for the best results you’ll need
to allow Google apps to see your location and give Google access to even more
data about you. To choose what Google Now is able to view, start Now, open the
menu, select Settings and tap ‘Privacy & accounts’. Review which apps can
be used to provide data in Settings, ‘Phone search’.
Get Google now on your Desktop
Google Now isn’t officially available for
laptop and PC users yet but you can try it out by installing a Beta version of
Chrome from www.snipca.com/9199. The
personal information cards will be shown when you use Chrome. Voice search will
be included too. As with the Android version, you’ll need to enable Now and
manage your sharing settings.
Disconnect Google search from other
Google services
If you find it disconcerting that Google
uses your contacts and your search history to serve up relevant information,
you can disconnect Google search from other Google services you use. Choose
‘Disconnect from Google account’ in Chrome’s Settings menu.
Disconnect
your Google account
Search as someone else
On a shared computer you may not want to
use the same search settings as other family members. Or you may simply want to
do a search that doesn’t show up in your search history. If so, you’ll need to
create an additional user account for Chrome. Click Add New User in the
Settings menu then choose an icon and a name for the new user. Sign into this
anonymous account and you’ll see the icon next to the Chrome page tab. Use this
technique to search without having results returned that reflect your previous
search history. This is useful when you want to start a completely fresh search
session.
Research topics with Google Knowledge
Graph
Google Knowledge Graph (www.snipca.com/9229) provides a way of
searching for related content without having to perform multiple searches. So
if you search for ‘horror films’ you’ll get examples of the latest and classic
films. It’s presented as a ‘carousel’ of information at me top of your main
search results page. This is drawn from searches other people have made on the
same topic. Click a thumbnail to sec related information. Our film search
provided links to buy the DVD or download it from iTunes, actor biographies and
images from each film.
Google
Knowledge Graph
To perform a Knowledge Graph watch lust go
to Google.com and type your search query as normal. If Google has a graph
relating t0 the topic, a ‘carousel’ of thumbnail results will appear.
At present, Knowledge Graph mainly covers
well-known people, events, books and films. Google says it includes more than
570 million ‘entities’, but subjects that have Knowledge Graph are still
limited. We found a Knowledge Graph result for ‘Superman movies’ but not for
‘Superman’ alone, for example. Google has a tool that it’s encouraging website
owners to use to allow their webpages to be “exposed” in Knowledge Graph
searches.
If you don’t see a Knowledge Graph carousel
for a topic, try the categorized search at www.snipca.com/9230.
New Voice search options
You might have heard of Siri, the
voice-controlled search assistant for the iPhone and iPad. Hold down the Home
button on your iPhone or iPad to launch it. You need to have Location Services
switched on and be connected to a Wi-Fi or 3G network.
To perform a voice search on an Android
tablet or phone, launch the search tool, tap the microphone and speak your
query.
To try the same thing on a desktop PC or
laptop go to www.google.com using Chrome,
click the grey microphone, then tell Google what you’re looking for. You’ll
need to have a mic attached to your PC.
Perform handwritten searches Android users
can also search Google using their handwriting. You need to use Chrome and to
enable the handwriting feature at www.google.com/preferences.
Select Handwrite, Enable, then scroll down and tap Save. Use a fingertip to
spell out words in the grey bar at the bottom of the Google homepage. Google
will recognize what you write and enter the word in its search box.
Stay up to date with current affairs
Google
Current on iOS
If you have an Android or iOS device,
Google currents delivers magazine-like content and news without you having to
search for it. Download the free app from www.snipca.com/9202
for Android devices or from www.snipca.com/9203
for iPhone and iPad.
Brilliant new Bing tools
Microsoft has integrated its Bing search
tool even more closely with Internet Explorer 10. You’ll find personalization
tools at www.iegallery.com. One of these
is the ability to ‘pin’ sites you like to your taskbar so they’re immediately
accessible. You can use lump Lists to get to specific sections of a pinned site
too.
