Search Engine Commands - how to optimise search engine results
Search engines are great way to find information. Most majority of the Internet users however are not using search engines to their fullest potential. There are special search engine commands that you can type into the search engines combined with the term or phrase you are trying to find more information on. These commands are really very easy to use; you do not need any special skills or training to use them. Of course you can also combine one or more of these commands to have search results that suit your needs exactly. Also please note that the following commands are not used by all search engines, so you need to experiment with which one works at your search engine. For a complete list of search engines please go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_search_engines.
Below you will find a reference of these search engine commands.
Command
| Search engine
| Commands with same function
| Description
|
|---|---|---|---|
-
| Google, Yahoo, Bing, Exalead
| Bing's not
| exclude search term
|
$
| Google, Yahoo, Bing
| extensions of words
| |
&
| Google, Yahoo, Bing
| and command
| |
()
| Google, Bing
| combines two other commands
| |
*
| Google, Exalead
| at least one of the search terms
| |
_
| Google
| Google's *
| at least one of the search terms
|
[#]...[#]
| Google
| number within number range eg.: [1]...[10]
| |
|
| Bing, InfoSeek
| Google's or
| the pipebar command find results that include at least some of the search terms
|
~
| Google
| Yahoo's synonym
| synonym of search term
|
“”
| Google, Bing, Exalead
| all search terms in exact order
| |
+
| Google, Yahoo, Bing, Exalead
| include all search terms
| |
after:
| Exalead
| pages created/cached after a time period
| |
airport
| Yahoo
| Yahoo Farechase link with maps, directions, terminal map, Flight Information, local weather above search results. Airport abbreviation before the command.
| |
allinanchor:
| Google
| Bing's inanchor
| all search terms in anchor text of a page
|
allintext:
| Google
| Bing's inbody
| all search terms in results' body text
|
allintitle:
| Google
| Yahoo's intitle, Bing's intitle
| all search terms only in title
|
allinurl:
| Google
| Yahoo's inurl, Bing's inurl
| all search terms must be within page URL
|
and:
| Google, Yahoo, Exalead
| both search terms
| |
and not:
| Yahoo
| excludes search term
| |
area code
| Yahoo
| list of US cities with same area code. No colon and city name after command.
| |
before:
| Exalead
| pages created/cached before a time period
| |
cashe:
| Google
| saved preview of page
| |
contains:
| Bing
| list pages that include the searched file type
| |
convert
| Yahoo
| convert different measurement, and currency units. Snippet before search results. No colon, insert word "to" between units
| |
date:
| Google
| pages indexed in the past 3, 6 or 12 month periods
| |
daterange:
| Google
| pages indexed between two dates
| |
database
| Google, Yahoo
| find searchable databases containing invisible web pages
| |
define:
| Google, Yahoo
| definition of search term
| |
facts
| Yahoo
| Columbia Encyclopedia description before search results. Term before the command
| |
feature:
| Yahoo
| restricts search results that match a feature. Full list of feature restrictions at: http://www.searchcommands.com/feature/
| |
filetype:
| Google, Bing
| type of file (pdf, exl)
| |
gas
| Yahoo
| gas prices at stations in a US area, a Yahoo map, and a link to info provider. No colon, city name after command
| |
hostname:
| Yahoo
| search within one subdomain only
| |
hotels
| Yahoo
| price ranges, star classes, popular hotels in a city from Yahoo Travel. No colon, city name before command
| |
inanchor:
| Bing
| Google's allinanchor
| some search terms in anchor tag of a page
|
inbody:
| Bing
| Google's allintext
| some search terms in body text in the results page
|
info:
| Google
| specific URL in the search database
| |
intitle:
| Google, Yahoo, Bing, Exalead
| Google's allintitle
| some keyterms in title
|
inurl:
| Yahoo, Bing, Exalead
| Google's allinurl
| some search terms must be within page URL
|
ip:
| Bing
| lists sites hosted on the searched IP address
| |
language:
| Bing
| sites in a specified language containing the search term
| |
link:
| Google, Yahoo, Bing, AllTheWeb, AltaVista, Teoma
| backlinks to a page
| |
LinkDomain:
| Bing, HotBot
| Yahoo's linkdomain
| backlinks to a page
|
linkdomain:
| Yahoo
| Bing's LinkDomain, HotBot's LinkDomain
| backlinks to a page
|
location:
| Bing
| restricts searches to a specific geographical region
| |
map
| Yahoo
| includes Yahoo maps data of only US locations, only in US Yahoo
| |
news
| Yahoo
| links to city news from major news networks. No colon
| |
not:
| Bing, Yahoo
| Google's -, Yahoo's -
| exclude preceeded search term
|
or:
| Google, Yahoo, Exalead
| either of the search terms
| |
patent
| Yahoo
| link to US patient. No colon, command followed by patient number
| |
prefer:
| Bing
| gives higher importance to a seach term. Last term can be more important than the last one.
| |
quote:
| Yahoo
| Google's stocks:
| basic price data and chart of US stocks and link to Yahoo Finance page of specific stock. No colon, command followed by stock ticker
|
related:
| Google
| related pages
| |
safesearch:
| Google
| excludes adult sites
| |
scores
| Yahoo
| Scores of US sports teams, and their last-, and next game date, time, city. Also a link to Yahoo Sports. Team name before command
| |
showtimes:
| Yahoo
| Showtimes of movies in US cities. No colon, city name before command. From Yahoo Movies
| |
site:
| Yahoo, Bing, AltaVista, Exalead
| search within one site only
| |
stocks:
| Google
| stocks: Ticker; US stocks information
| |
synonym:
| Yahoo
| Google’s ~
| definition and synonym of search term
|
t:
| Google, Yahoo, Bing
| title command
| |
time:
| Yahoo
| a world city's current time. City name before command
| |
traffic
| Yahoo
| link to US local traffic details on Yahoo maps. No colon, city name after command
| |
u:
| Google, Yahoo, Bing
| url command
| |
url:
| Yahoo, Bing
| searches for one specific webpage in the search engine's database. In Bing no other iformation is provided in the results.
| |
weather
| Yahoo
| Includes weather forcast of US locations. No colon in search command
| |
zip code
| Yahoo
| list of all zip codes of a city and a link yahoo maps link. No colon
|
Useful links
- Search Commands*
Search commands is a resource for search engine users, search engine beginners, advanced searchers and elite search engine optimisters. The cheat sheets of search commands explore the full capabilities of the search engines and examine each quirk of - Tech Patterns :: Search engine commands and tools
