How to use Google’s advanced search like a pro

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The Google Advanced Seach has two very useful types of research: for sites and image. These filters will help narrow complex search results and find updated pages within the last 24 hours or images in black and white only.

This modifies the Google results page (which tends to show what the algorithm considers to be the best result) with links that exactly match the items that make up the filter, whether popular or not, from large or small sites.

Using advanced Google search

  1. In the home of Google.com, click on “Settings” in the footer of the site;
  2. There, choose the option “Advanced Search”;
  3. Or, go to the “Advanced Search” direct page;

You’ll enter search terms in the “Find pages with” section, and in the second part, “Then limit your results by”, choose the filters you want to use.

You can use one or more filters in each section and use search operators.

In finding pages with (sites and images):

  1. All these words: write all the terms;
  2. This exact phrase or phrase: “use quotation marks”
  3. Any of these words: Type OR (OR) between words;
  4. None of these words: taking with a minus sign before: -blue; -rose
  5. Numbers from X to Y: put 2 final points between them: $3..$5,; 2010..2011

The first four apply to search for images and sites, and the fifth only to sites.

Then limit your results by … (sites):

Now his search becomes even more specific:

  • Language: searches in a certain language;
  • Region: searches in a particular country;
  • Date Last Updated: Sites updated within the specified time;
  • Site or domain: within a site or bound to a .edu, .org or .gov domain;
  • Where search terms appear: on every page, in the title, in the URL;
  • SafeSearch: Enable sexually explicit content filtering;
  • File type: find .pdf, .ps, .dwf, .kml, .kmz, .xls, .ppt, .doc, .rtf and .swf;
  • Creative commons: pages that you have permission to use.

Then limit your results by … (images):

These filters are more obvious:

  1. Size: icon, small, medium, large, X by Y or megapixels;
  2. Aspect ratio: high, square, wide or wide;
  3. Color: any color, color, black and white, transparent or a certain color;
  4. Type: face (home page), photo, clip art, linear design or animation;
  5. Region: searches in a particular country;
  6. Site or domain: within a site or bound to a .edu, .org or .gov domain;
  7. File type: jpeg, gif, png, bmp, svg, webp, ico and raw;
  8. SafeSearch: Enable sexually explicit content filtering;
  9. Creative commons: pages that you have permission to use.

Once you have made all the required filters, click “advanced search” at the bottom of the form. If you want something faster and do not want to fill out the entire form, you can choose to always have the list of Google search operators at hand.

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