Cached Results

One of the best things about the Google search engine is that often times the results include a link at the bottom of the paragraph labeled "Cached."  This means that if the page no longer exists on the web site, Google still has a copy of it for you to browse.

Automatic "and" Queries

By default, Google only returns pages that include all of your search terms. There is no need to include "and" between terms. Keep in mind that the order in which the terms are typed will affect the search results. To restrict a search further, just include more terms.

For example, to plan a vacation to Atlanta, simply type: vacation atlanta

Automatic Exclusion of Common Words

Google ignores common words and characters such as "where" and "how", as well as certain single digits and single letters, because they tend to slow down your search without improving the results. Google will indicate if a common word has been excluded by displaying details on the results page below the search box.

If a common word is essential to getting the results you want, you can include it by putting a "+" sign in front of it. (Be sure to include a space before the "+" sign.) The one exception to this is "the", which is so common it is not considered in searches.

For example, to search for Star Wars, Episode I use: Star Wars Episode +I

Capitalization

Google searches are NOT case sensitive. All letters, regardless of how you type them, will be understood as lower case. For example, searches for "george washington", "George Washington", and "gEoRgE wAsHiNgToN" will all return the same results. (An exception to the case sensitive rule is capitalized limiters such as OR or AND between words.)

Word Variations (Stemming)

To provide the most accurate results, Google does not use "stemming" or support "wildcard" searches. In other words, Google searches for exactly the words that you enter in the search box. Searching for "exam" or "exam*" will not yield "examination" or "examiner". If in doubt, try both forms: "agent" and "agents," for instance.