Tag Archives: Google Search

20 things you didn’t know you could do with Search

Search has been helping you settle bets since 1998 (turns out there is some caffeine in decaf coffee), but now that we’re 20 years in, we’ve built dozens of other useful features and tools to help you get through your day. Let’s jump into some of these secret (and not-so-secret) tricks to up your Search game.

Search as your everyday sidekick

Here are some of the ways you can plan your day and stay in the know with Search.

1. Fill your schedule with nearby events:With your phone, simply search for [events near me] or for a specific event type like [food festivals] and you’ll see listings for local activities from around the web. With a recent update, you can also browse events based on your interests. 
2. Movie showtimes and tickets:When you’re in the mood for a movie, Search brings together showtimes, theater locations, and ratings all in one place. It makes it easy to decide which movie and location work best for you (and then to buy your tickets in advance). 
3. Recipe Search:If you’re looking for a recipe in a pinch, just search on mobile for whatever you’re craving (say, chicken parmesan) and you’ll see a carousel of recipe suggestions.
4. Live sports scores:Search makes it easy to stay up on the latest scores, whether you’re a fervent fantasy sports aficionado or a casual fan. Type in the name of your favorite team or league (like the NFL), and get real-time scores and recaps from recent games.
5. Styling and shopping help from Google Images:When you're exploring style ideas or browsing for your next buy with Google Images, pictures of products that are available to purchase are marked with a "products" badge in the Google app and mobile web. Images marked “product” include price, reviews and availability, making it easier and faster to research and shop.

Helping you navigate important decisions

When you’re looking for information related to your career, education or health, we provide quick access to tools and reliable resources to help you make informed decisions.

6. Find your next job:Now available in more than 90 countries around the world, you can search for jobs right on Google. Try searching for [jobs near me] or [retail jobs] to explore jobs from across the web. You can also save jobs set up alerts, map your potential commute and click through to apply.
7. Discover the right college for you: Right on Search, you can find more information about four-year U.S. colleges, including information about admissions, cost and student life. You can dig into data around graduation rates and typical annual income 10 years after enrollment.
8. Help with health questions:When searching for common health conditions, like influenza or a sprained ankle, you’ll find relevant medical facts in a knowledge panel. We’ll show you typical symptoms, treatments and other details—like how common the condition is, whether it’s critical or contagious, ages of people affected and more—all from reliable sources and vetted by doctors. If you search for clinical depression on your mobile device, we’ll also provide easy access to a clinically validated private screening test, the results of which can be helpful in conversations with your own care provider.

Time-saving tools

When you need a quick answer to help you with daily tasks, we provide tools right in Search to help you on your way:

9. Figure out who owes what:You can use Google to calculate your tip when you’re in a restaurant. Simply search for [tip calculator], enter the cost of your meal, and the percentage you want to tip. You can even ask Google to help you split the bill evenly with your friends.
10. Convert cash:If you’re heading out on a trip, here’s a tool that makes a ton of cents: you can get real-time currency conversions right on Google. Search for something like [$500 in Euros] and you’ll get a box with the current exchange rate and an interactive graph to let you explore the change over time.
11. Track packages:You can enter any UPS, USPS, or Fedex tracking number directly into the Google search bar, and it’ll show you the tracking information about your package.
12. Quick access to appointments, flights and more:If you don’t want to toggle through your tabs, Search can help you find information about your upcoming plans. If you’re logged into your Google account, searching for “my trips” or “my appointments” will show you (and only you!) relevant results about upcoming flights, hotel reservations and your schedule from Gmail and Google Calendar.
13. Get the numbers about your noms:You can search for nutritional information and find out the number of calories in your everyday foods. For example, you can ask “how much fat is there in chocolate cake?” or “how much sugar is there in tomato sauce?” and Google will break down the nutritional stats for you.
14. Definitions and synonyms:You can use Google as a dictionary and thesaurus. Try searching for [what does loquacious mean] and you might find yourself talking nonstop about this feature. 

For the savvy searchers

When you’re asking a complicated question or hoping to dig deep on a topic, Search can be your co-researcher.

15. Ask complex multi-part questions:You can ask Google “compositional queries” that require us to solve the first piece of the question before addressing the second part. For example, if you search [when were the members of NSYNC born], you will (feel old and) see the birthdates of Justin, JC, Chris, Lance and Joey.
16. Search with an image:On your computer, upload your own photo to Google Images to find the same or similar photos on the web. Click on the camera icon in Google Images and Google will also tell you the origin and other details about the photo. Now you can know where that meme really came from.
17. Check how to say massive numbers correctly:Type in any long number and add “=english” to the end of your search and you’ll find the correct way to spell out the number in words. Try it for 6006131520 (hint: it’s not “Google is 20”).
18. Search within a time period:You can narrow your search to a specific date range and see only content published during that time. This can be useful if you’re looking for insight into how a news topic may have been covered at a certain point in time or looking for resources for a history paper, perhaps.
19. Search within a site:If you’re looking for an article or page from a specific publisher, Search will let you focus your results on that single website. Just add “site:” ahead of the web URL to limit your results to that publisher, and you can then sort by recency or add additional keywords to narrow down your search.
20. Advanced Search:If all of these tricks still don’t get you what you need, you can use Advanced Search to apply a number of filters, like specifying terms you want to exclude or only find pages that are in certain languages, regions, sites or file formats.


But right now, I’m not feeling that advanced—so will go back to searching for cake recipes for Google’s birthday.

Source: Search


Making it easier to discover datasets

In today's world, scientists in many disciplines and a growing number of journalists live and breathe data. There are many thousands of data repositories on the web, providing access to millions of datasets; and local and national governments around the world publish their data as well. To enable easy access to this data, we launched Dataset Search, so that scientists, data journalists, data geeks, or anyone else can find the data required for their work and their stories, or simply to satisfy their intellectual curiosity.

Similar to how Google Scholar works, Dataset Search lets you find datasets wherever they’re hosted, whether it’s a publisher's site, a digital library, or an author's personal web page. To create Dataset search, we developed guidelines for dataset providers to describe their data in a way that Google (and other search engines) can better understand the content of their pages. These guidelines include  salient information about datasets: who created the dataset, when it was published, how the data was collected, what the terms are for using the data, etc. We then collect and link this information, analyze where different versions of the same dataset might be, and find publications that may be describing or discussing the dataset. Our approach is based on an open standard for describing this information (schema.org) and anybody who publishes data can describe their dataset this way. We encourage dataset providers, large and small, to adopt this common standard so that all datasets are part of this robust ecosystem.

In this new release, you can find references to most datasets in environmental and social sciences, as well as data from other disciplines including government data and data provided by news organizations, such as ProPublica. As more data repositories use the schema.org standard to describe their datasets, the variety and coverage of datasets that users will find in Dataset Search, will continue to grow.

Dataset Search works in multiple languages with support for additional languages coming soon. Simply enter what you are looking for and we will help guide you to the published dataset on the repository provider’s site.

For example, if you wanted to analyze daily weather records, you might try this query in Dataset Search:

dataset

You’ll see data from NASA and NOAA, as well as from academic repositories such as Harvard's Dataverse and Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR). Ed Kearns, Chief Data Officer at NOAA, is a strong supporter of this project and helped NOAA make many of their datasets searchable in this tool. “This type of search has long been the dream for many researchers in the open data and science communities” he said. “And for NOAA, whose mission includes the sharing of our data with others, this tool is key to making our data more accessible to an even wider community of users.”

This launch is one of a series of initiatives to bring datasets more prominently into our products. We recently made it easier to discover tabular data in Search, which uses this same metadata along with the linked tabular data to provide answers to queries directly in search results. While that initiative focused more on news organizations and data journalists, Dataset search can be useful to a much broader audience, whether you're looking for scientific data, government data, or data provided by news organizations.

A search tool like this one is only as good as the metadata that data publishers are willing to provide. We hope to see many of you use the open standards to describe your data, enabling our users to find the data that they are looking for. If you publish data and don't see it in the results, visit our instructions on our developers site which also includes a link to ask questions and provide feedback.

Source: Search


Dog days, always: the most fetching trends for National Dog Day

For someone like me who barely asks permission to pet puppers passing by on the street, every day is a day to celebrate doggos. But then there are days like National Dog Day, where our favorite floofers get a little extra attention.

In honor of this most important day of puppreciation this Sunday, Dogust 26, we took at look at Google Trends to sniff out what people search for when it comes to canines.

If you’re like me, you probably have your own unique dog needs. Are you on the hunt for a hound dog pic? Do you feel like your bowwow-logical clock is ticking, and you’re hankering to bring a new BFF home with you from the shelter? Does your next weekend project involve turning your kitchen into a barkery for churning out homemade biscuits? No matter what you’re looking for, Search has it all.

Have a sploot, and let’s dig into some of the top queries and questions people in the U.S. have asked about dogs in the past 12 months.

Bowwow why?

Of all the canine curiosities that might cause your head to tilt, these are the top dog-related questions:

  1. How to draw a dog
  2. Why do dogs eat grass?
  3. How long are dogs pregnant for?
  4. Why do dogs eat poop?
  5. Why do dogs lick?

Decoding Doggos

Let’s admit it: we all talk to dogs, and I, for one, am convinced they understand us. But sometimes it’s clear we’re not speaking the same language. Here are the top “what does it mean” dog related searches we’ve seen:

  1. What does it mean when a dog licks you?
  2. What does it mean when a dog howls?
  3. What does it mean when a dog eats grass?
  4. What does it mean when a dog’s nose is dry?
  5. What does it mean when a dog shakes?

Teacher’s Pet

We all love to teach our dogs new tricks. Here are the top “how to teach my dog to” related searches:

  1. How to teach my dog to speak
  2. How to teach my dog to fetch
  3. How to teach my dog to roll over
  4. How to teach my dog to play dead
  5. How to teach my dog to shake
  6. How to teach my dog to come when called
  7. How to teach my dog to heel
  8. How to teach my dog to smile
  9. How to teach my dog to find things
  10. How to teach my dog to stay

Canine Cookin’
Especially on National Dog Day, all the good boys (and girls) out there deserve a treat. If you’re a DIY-inclined dog parent (or neighbor, or stranger who just loves dogs), give one of these top searched dog recipes a try:

  1. Dog treat recipes
  2. Dog food recipes
  3. Dog cake recipe
  4. Dog birthday cake recipe
  5. Dog biscuit recipe
  6. Dog ice cream recipe
  7. Dog cookie recipe
  8. Dog cupcake recipe
  9. Peanut butter dog treats recipe
  10. Dog shampoo recipe

Pupper Pics

Our furry friends come in all shapes, sizes and varieties of softness and fluff. Of all the perfect pooches out there, here are the breeds that saw the most Google Images searches:

  1. Siberian Husky
  2. Bulldog
  3. Pit bull
  4. German Shepherd
  5. Labrador Retriever
  6. Golden Retriever
  7. Pug
  8. Chihuahua
  9. Yorkshire Terrier
  10. Pembroke Welsh Corgi

Parting GIFs

If you’re having a ruff time expressing your love of labradoodles, leonbergers and lhasa apsos, nothing gets the message across like a GIF. Check out the top puppers on our GIF search engine, Tenor, so you can say “I love you” or “I need a belly rub” with the adorable canine of your choice.

Source: Search


Easier Search Console access for Analytics owners

Verifying websites in Search Console can be useful for site owners, giving you access to information about how your site is performing in Google Search. You can also get notified of issues, such as accidental blocking of Googlebot or getting hacked. Over the next few months, if you're a verified owner of a Google Analytics property, we'll now automatically verify you for that same website in Search Console.

Quicker verification, with no extra steps

Now that we're launching auto-verification, you don't have to manually configure Search Console and Analytics. To be eligible for auto-verification, you still need to follow the existing requirements for Search Console ownership. If you don't want to be verified for Search Console, simply delete the property in Search Console.

See how your site is performing on Google Search

Search Console is a free tool that provides website owners with information which can be critical to performance in Google Search. Once verified, Search Console compiles reports on the website's performance in Search, including search queries, the website's rankings, and the number of clicks and impressions. Additionally, there's information about a site's indexing, the status of various implemented features on the website, as well as reports and notifications of critical issues.


We hope this change makes it easier for you to get access to data in Search Console, to be able to discover issues quicker, as well as to learn about opportunities for your website in Google Search. If you have any questions, visit the Webmaster Help Forum.

Source: Search


Helping you find useful information fast on Search

Imagine you’re remodeling your kitchen, and you want information about how quartz compares to granite for your new countertops. Sure, Google can tell you what quartz and granite are, but that’s perhaps not what you had in mind. Chances are you’re hoping to learn more about the differences in cost, benefits, and durability of each, and may be looking for guidance on other subtopics to explore.


For these types of queries, we’re introducing a new way to get you to relevant information fast and help you get a glimpse of multiple aspects of a topic with a single search.


quarts vs. granite

Now when you search for something like [quartz vs. granite], you’ll see a panel with a set of relevant subtopics to explore. As another example, when you search [emergency fund], you'll get a quick view of information that relates to the recommended size, purpose, and importance of an emergency fund, and you can easily click the links to these relevant sources to learn more. This new format is meant to help guide you with what we understand to be common, useful aspects of the topic and help you sift through the information available, all with the goal of delivering the most relevant results for you.


These new panels are automatically generated based on our understanding of these topics from content on the web, and we hope you find them useful as they roll out over the next few days.


This update is the latest in a series of improvements we’ve been making to help you get information quickly with Search. As always, if you have any feedback on the information you see, please let us know via the feedback link at the bottom of the search results page. To learn more about how these types of features work, check out our post on featured snippets.

Source: Search


On your mark, get set, go! Stay up to speed with the 2018 Asian Games

After 56 years, the Asian Games are coming back to Indonesia. This Saturday, thousands of athletes from 45 nations in Asia will go for gold in Jakarta and Palembang, the two cities hosting the games this year. Here are some ways you can get in on the action.


Track your country’s victories with Search

When you search for Asian Games on Google Search, you’ll find up-to-date information at the top of Search results. Sprint through the medal tally rankings and recent results to see if your country is in the lead. You can also watch videos of highlights and catch up on top news related to the Asian Games.

asiangamessearch2

Up your Games on Google Maps and Google Earth

If you’re lucky enough to catch the action live in Indonesia, Atung, one of the friendly Asian Games mascots, will show you the best route on Maps when you search for directions. Wondering where your seat in the stadium is? You can sail through the gantries and find it quickly with indoor maps of event venues. And even if you aren’t in Indonesia for the games, you can explore its amazing archipelago, and get inspiration on where to go on Voyager in Google Earth to make the most of your trip.

  • discover indonesia

    Explore the Komodo islands (pictured) and other amazing Indonesian attractions with Google Earth.

  • indonesia stadium

    Check out Gelora Bung Karno Stadium and other Asian Games venues on Street View.

  • indoormap-asiangames

    Find your seat quick with indoor maps of event venues.

  • Atung-english

    Let Atung, one of the Asian Games mascots, show you the way around Jakarta and Palembang on his jet ski.

Can I Play, too? Yes you can.

Head to the Google Play Store and check out selected Asian Games content and deals from Google Play.

asiangames-play

Judo-n’t want to miss out on the 18th Asian Games, and with a few helpful tools from Google you will stay close to the action.

Source: Search


Helping more people in the U.K. find their next job

Like anyone who has searched for a job at some point in their lives, I know from experience how hard it can be to find the right role. You can spend days scouring job postings that are scattered across the web, flicking through newspapers or dropping into local employers, yet still struggle to find a job that suits you. Employers may be feeling the impact of this too: three quarters of U.K. employers face talent shortages and have issues filling open positions with the right candidate.

Today, more people are turning to Google to find information about their next role. We have a long history of using our technology to connect people with information, so we’re excited to bring a new job search experience to Google to connect people in the U.K. to job opportunities. This new feature in Search lets you more easily explore jobs from across the web and find job postings that suit your needs and skills.

Starting today, when you search for “jobs near me,” “teaching jobs,” or similar queries in English in the U.K., you’ll have the option to click through to a feature that lets you explore jobs from across the web that meet your unique needs. You can access salary information, reviews and ratings of the employer and different options to apply for a job, or use a location filter to see jobs in the areas that are convenient for you. Thanks to Google Maps, if you’re signed in, you’ll even be able to see how long it would take to commute to a job from your home.

Searching for a job can take time, and keeping up with new jobs that are posted throughout the day can be impossible. Now in Google Search you can save individual jobs with a single tap so that they are accessible across any of your devices. And if you step away from your job search, you can stay in the loop on opportunities that interest you by turning on alerts to receive an email notification whenever new jobs arrive.

Job Search in UK

The new jobs experience in Search is the result of deep collaboration with the job-matching industry, and benefits both employers and job seekers. We first introduced this experience in the U.S. last year, and it’s now live in several countries. Since launching it, we’ve seen 130 percent more companies showing jobs in Search and connected tens of millions of people around the world to new job opportunities.

In the U.K., we’re working with organizations from across the job-matching industry to bring you the most comprehensive listing of jobs, like The Guardian Jobs, Reed.co.uk, Haymarket, Gumtree, The Telegraph, Reach plc's totallylegal, CV-Library and totaljobs.com. This means anyone searching for jobs on Google will see postings from these sites and many others from across the web as soon as they’re posted. To ensure even more jobs are listed over time, we’re publishing open documentation for all jobs providers detailing how to make their job openings discoverable in this new feature.

This launch also builds on the commitment we made last year to help 100,000 people in the U.K.find a job or grow in their career by 2020. We’re doing that through our Google Digital Garage program, which gives anyone free training in digital skills and products to help grow their career, business or confidence. So far we’ve helped tens of thousands of people find their next job through free training at four city-center hubs and with partners across the U.K.

Whether you’re a recent graduate looking for your first job, a parent supporting a growing family, or simply hunting for your dream role, we hope this new experience on Google will help make the job search simpler and connect you with your next job.

Source: Search


Our 10th Doodle 4 Google winner is dino-mite

Ten years ago, for the very first Doodle 4 Google contest, we asked students “what if?” A decade later, we’ve been privileged to receive hundreds of thousands of submissions for our annual contest—submissions that reflect the dreams, hopes and talents of students across the country. These young artists help us to see the world through their eyes and find inspiration in unexpected places.

This year was no exception. We asked students to respond to the theme “What Inspires Me…” and received doodles depicting everything from a love of family and food to a passion for intergalactic roller coasters (!).

Now we’re thrilled to announce the winner of the 2018 Doodle 4 Google contest: first grader Sarah Gomez-Lane, who drew delightful dinosaurs to highlight her dream of becoming a paleontologist. Sarah was our K-3 finalist, and the Virginia state winner. We fell in love with Sarah’s rendering of her dinos, and were blown away by her big (you might even say “dino-sized”!) ambitions for her future, especially at her young age.

When asked how she felt upon hearing she was a finalist, Sarah exclaimed that she was “surprised!” Her advice to students interested in submitting to future Doodle 4 Google contests? “Try your best and have fun!”

doodle 4 google winner on stage

Sarah, first on the left in front, at the Doodle 4 Google award ceremony at Google’s headquarters June 18.

For the first time in Doodle 4 Google’s 10-year history, the National Winner will have the opportunity to turn their submission into an animated, interactive Doodle featured on the Google homepage. Over the summer, Sarah will collaborate with the Doodle team to bring her artwork to life. She’ll also receive $30,000 toward a college scholarship, and her elementary school in Falls Church, VA, will receive $50,000 to spend on technology to help students like Sarah continue to pursue what inspires them.


Thank you to everyone who participated not only this year, but throughout the past decade. And, of course, a huge congratulations to all of the talented 2018 winners. From all of us at Google: keep dreaming—and keep doodling!


Source: Search


Google Search trends all about Dad

Everything “dad” is suddenly cool: dad shoes, dad hats, and even the beloved dad joke. As a tribute to dear old dad ahead of Father’s Day, we’re highlighting some of the most interesting “dad” Google Search trends over the past year.

Dad-spo fashion trends

Who says dads don’t have style? Dad-chic is having a moment in a big way, according to these searches, which have gone up over the past year. Just don’t make us wear socks with our sandals ??.

Dad shoes(U.S. data, past 12 months)

  • “Gucci dad shoes,” up 5000 percent

  • “Umbro dad shoes,” up 5000 percent

  • “Balenciaga dad shoes,” up 2800 percent

  • “Dad shoes trend,” up 850 percent

  • “Fila dad shoes,” up 550 percent

Dad hats(U.S. data, past 12 months)

  • “Rick and Morty dad hat,” up 5000 percent

  • “Black Panther dad hat,” up 5000 percent

  • “Off white dad hat,” up 500 percent

  • “Champion dad hat,” up 300 percent

  • “Make your own dad hat,” up 100 percent

Celeb dads on Search, ranked

2018 has been a big year for celebrity babies—and celebrity dads. We took a look at a handful of high-profile dads who welcomed new babies this year, and here are the rankings (by worldwide search interest in 2018):

  1. Kanye West
  2. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
  3. Prince William
  4. Tristan Thompson
  5. John Legend
  6. Adam Levine
  7. Hugh Grant
  8. Seth Meyers
  9. Jeffrey Dean Morgan
  10. John Stamos

Dad jokes, according to GIFs

Google Image searches for “dad jokes” have spiked 130 percent in the past 12 months. Below are some of the top “dad joke” related GIFs shared on our GIF search engine, Tenor:

While dad-cool may not always be a trend, appreciating our pops will never go out of style. Whomever you celebrate on June 18th, whether it’s dad, grandpa, coach, or another fatherly figure, we wish you the happiest of Father’s Days.

Source: Search


Google Search trends all about Dad

Everything “dad” is suddenly cool: dad shoes, dad hats, and even the beloved dad joke. As a tribute to dear old dad ahead of Father’s Day, we’re highlighting some of the most interesting “dad” Google Search trends over the past year.

Dad-spo fashion trends

Who says dads don’t have style? Dad-chic is having a moment in a big way, according to these searches, which have gone up over the past year. Just don’t make us wear socks with our sandals ??.

Dad shoes(U.S. data, past 12 months)

  • “Gucci dad shoes,” up 5000 percent

  • “Umbro dad shoes,” up 5000 percent

  • “Balenciaga dad shoes,” up 2800 percent

  • “Dad shoes trend,” up 850 percent

  • “Fila dad shoes,” up 550 percent

Dad hats(U.S. data, past 12 months)

  • “Rick and Morty dad hat,” up 5000 percent

  • “Black Panther dad hat,” up 5000 percent

  • “Off white dad hat,” up 500 percent

  • “Champion dad hat,” up 300 percent

  • “Make your own dad hat,” up 100 percent

Celeb dads on Search, ranked

2018 has been a big year for celebrity babies—and celebrity dads. We took a look at a handful of high-profile dads who welcomed new babies this year, and here are the rankings (by worldwide search interest in 2018):

  1. Kanye West
  2. Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson
  3. Prince William
  4. Tristan Thompson
  5. John Legend
  6. Adam Levine
  7. Hugh Grant
  8. Seth Meyers
  9. Jeffrey Dean Morgan
  10. John Stamos

Dad jokes, according to GIFs

Google Image searches for “dad jokes” have spiked 130 percent in the past 12 months. Below are some of the top “dad joke” related GIFs shared on our GIF search engine, Tenor:

While dad-cool may not always be a trend, appreciating our pops will never go out of style. Whomever you celebrate on June 18th, whether it’s dad, grandpa, coach, or another fatherly figure, we wish you the happiest of Father’s Days.

Source: Search