How to Exclude a Site on Google Search
Not all search results in Google Search are directly relevant to the desired search. For example, you want to search other websites about Gfanatic. Results from www.gfanatic.com would turn out useless because you already know about Gfanatic from this site.
Another possible reason why people prefer to exclude some sites from their search is to lessen the commercial aspect of the search results. Commercialized websites usually show up the first granted its relevance to the keyword. But it doesn’t necessarily contain relevant information.
Now for those of you who have been researching on how to exclude sites from your Google search, here’s how. After typing in the keyword/s enclosed with quotation marks, simply type the hyphen or minus sign followed by the word ‘site’ then a colon and then the website url.
Syntax: <”keyword/s”>-site:<URL of the site you want to exclude search results from>
Example: “Gfanatic”-site:http://gfanatic.com
Don’t forget the hyphen or the minus sign. Remember it signifies to cancel out. If you don’t include the hyphen or the minus sign, it will search the keyword on that specific site.
Examples:
To Exclude a Site
“Google Earth”-site:http://gfanatic.com
To Search in a Particular Site (no hyphen / minus sign)
“Google Earth” site:http://gfanatic.com
Other articles on Google Search Features
- 5 Search Features Valuable To Students
- Google Teaches Spelling
- Google, what time is it?
- 9 Facts that Google Can Answer
- Currency Converter
Google Commemorates Large Hadron Collider (LHC)
Today, Google commemorated the Starting up of Cern’s Large Hadron Collider (LHC) by displaying a picture of the LHC on the Google search home page. The LHC is the largest particle accelerator ever created. It could lead to the discovery of the “God Particle” and could help answer questions such as:
- Why do we see so much matter in nature but not antimatter?
- Are there extra dimensions and can we “see” them?
- Why is gravity so much weaker than the other fundamental forces?
- Where does dark matter and dark energy come from?
- Do particles have supersymmetric counterparts?
It is great to see Google supporting this great day in Science.
Dates in Date Range Search
About an hour ago, I wanted to read stories about Squidoo and Google as references for an article I was writing. Since it was important for me to know the latest news stories or blog posts, I restricted the search results by using the date range (through advanced search).
The search results I wanted were there, but there was something new that I noticed. Each result had dates beside it. Maybe those are the dates the entry were published or got indexed by Google.
I don’t know when this slight change started, yet I remembered using the date range feature last Sunday, 6 A.M. MDT, but didn’t noticed those dates. But I like this addition. With these dates or how much hours have passed shown beside each result, we, the users not only get relevant results to their queries, but we will also know how recent those entries are.
Google.Com’s Data, Not Available in Trends for Websites!
I was trying one of Google Trends’s new features, the Trends for Websites, which is similar to what you see in Alexa and Compete. The feature allows you to view the number of unique visitors a site is getting, and even compare it to the visitors from other related sites. The results also show the regions where most of its visitors are coming from.
To see how it works, I typed in the search box: Google.Com, Yahoo.Com, MSN.com, AOL.Com, and Ask.Com—all separated with commas. Surprisingly, no data appear for Google.Com.
I went to Compete to see their data for these sites. Yet as you can see in the graph below, Google.com has millions of users.
So I wondered why there was no data available for Google.Com in Google Trends. I went back to it, and search Google.Com alone, and clicked the Learn More link.
So why does Google Trends for Websites not have data to display for Google.Com?
Maybe Google just want to humble themselves, or they thought why would someone care. Whatever the reason is, Google has the right not to include their data anyways since it was them who created this tool. As they have said in Google Trends Help page not all websites are included. Those that aren’t are:
- Websites with low traffic volume below our threshold
- Websites that don’t wish to be indexed by Google and have indicated their preference through a robots.txt exclusion file
- Websites that don’t adhere to our Quality Guidelines
- Other websites for miscellaneous reasons
With the criteria mentioned above for a website exclusion, Google.Com perhaps is under the 2nd or 4th category. Anyways, I figured out that Alexa does not rank their own site as well, while Compete does.
5 Google Search Features Valuable To Students
A student asked me once, “Which search engine should I use, Google or Yahoo?” Google was my reply, of course, not just because I’m a fan, but because I know Google Search really is way, way better than Yahoo’s.
Aside from giving students relevant search results to their queries, Google has other cool features which I think would be valuable to students. These features eliminate the use of some tools they need. Well, I mean, a student doesn’t necessarily have to bring his calculator or his dictionary with him when researching online, or look for sites that would offer him unit conversion features, because with Google Search alone, he can calculate, convert units, check spelling, and know the definition of words. He can even ask Google to fill in the blank, of maybe, his assignments. Isn’t that nice?
So students, let’s look closer at each of these features, and be familiarized how to use it.
1. Calculator
Well, you should be able to compute simple calculations on your own, like 25 plus 40, but if it’s a complicated math problem then it’s time to use Google’s calculator feature.
Here are some examples:
You can find a list of shortcuts from this site.
2. Unit Conversion
I think it’s fun to convert units of measurements using the real calculator, a pen, and a piece of paper, but if you are looking for an instant answer then let Google be in charge with that. With Google, you can not only convert between units of height, weight, and mass but also currency, temperature, time, power, information, etc.
Here are some examples:
On this site, you can find more about unit conversion and using Google to know physical constants like the Faraday Constant. Once you are familiar with the different operators on Google’s hidden calculator, you can try more complicated ones like knowing your weight in the moon.
3. Dictionary Definition
There are two ways for Google to help you know the definition of a word. The first one, is by putting a space between define and the word you are looking for, i.e. define cooperative, define exhilarating. This will yield to several pages that define that word, and then you choose which page you want as a resource.
There are some instances though that some pages in the search results don’t really define the word, but just have those two keywords on the page. Thus, using the other shortcut is better wherein you get a list of definitions from various online resources. You can do this by putting a colon, instead of a space, between define and the word, i.e. define:cooperative.
4. Spell Checker
There are some people who are good with spelling, and there are some who aren’t, but there are just some words that are really hard to spell isn’t it? That’s why Google is here to give us a hand. If you aren’t sure of the spelling of a word, just type the word, with the spelling you have in mind, on the search box and hit click. If that is misspelled, then Google will give you the more accepted one or correct one.
5. Fill in the Blank
So, this time you were asked who invented electricity, or what did Columbus discovered. You know you know the answer, but it just have slipped from your mind. Now, don’t worry because Google will fill in the blank for you. Just type an asterisk (*) after the phrase you want Google to complete.
Here are some examples:
Conclusion
The five features enumerated are in fact just a few of Google’s search features. There are also advanced search features like putting quotation marks between phrases, and using a date range to restrict the search results. And it is not just Google Search, there are other products and tools student can use when doing their researches and assignments like Google Scholar, Google Docs, Google Book Search, and Google Notebook.
Google Currency Conversion Unreliable?
I’ve blogged before that we can convert a currency using Google Search. I use this search feature frequently, and have assumed that it is updated daily, until last friday.
I was watching news in my aunt’s place then, and learned that the Philippine Peso had dropped to 44.10 per US Dollar. I was ecstatic after hearing it since I am earning dollars by working online. For the past eight months peso got stronger against dollar, which by the way is a good sign for our economy, yet not a good one for someone like me since it would mean I will be earning less.
Anyways, when I arrived home I immediately checked Google to see how much I can get from the pay I received recently. (Although I can use my calculator eh?) But then the conversion was still in 43. I wasn’t worried though, that Google hadn’t updated yet, not until I have checked it again several days after. The conversion rate in Google was still in 43 when Peso was already hitting 44 per dollar. In fact, there was one time that I used the feature, and it showed a conversion rate near 40!
This time, I read the disclaimer page again. Google says:
“Google cannot guarantee the accuracy of the exchange rates used by the calculator. You should confirm current rates before making any transactions that could be affected by changes in the exchange rates…Rates are for information purposes only and are subject to change without notice…”
As I am writing this post the conversion rate is Php44.430 to 1usd in Philstar.Com, the online version of a Philippine newspaper,
and Yahoo Finance says Php 44.455
but Google Search says:
So now, I am going to use other currency converter online like Yahoo Finance’s. At least the data is being updated everyday or Yahoo! shows how recent their data is. I still have to click a couple of links though before I will be able to get the answer to my query, yet I would prefer it that way so my next transactions would be a few cents near to the exact peso to dollar rate.
Using Date Range to Restrict Search Results
I was searching last weekened how to apply for a visa, and I wanted to know how long will it take to process the documents. However, I was more interested about the timeline of visa applicants who processed there papers recently. So I used the date range for my query, adjust it to ‘past 6 months’ and got the web pages I wanted.
Date range is an uncommon feature of Google.com. It allows you to search through a specific period of time. Just click the ‘advanced search‘ link beside the search button, then the link on ‘Date, usage rights, numeric range, and more‘. After that, choose how recent the pages you want to appear on the search results. Maybe articles in the past 24 hours, past week, past month, past 3 months, or in the past year. Then click the ‘advanced search‘ button.
But aside from that, there’s a trick with the date range. You can search posts/pages about your query in the past 10 days, or in the past 5 weeks, or 7 months. Find out how on this post.
The date range feature is really useful since the webpages that appear on the results are affected by Pageranks regardless of the dates they were published. And there are times that you just really wanted the latest articles about your query.
Two more examples below:
- new web pages in the past 24 hours about Australia
- recent web pages in the past 2 months about Gmail
Most Googled Age-Old Questions
Who is God? What is love? How to Kiss? Google.com users in U.S. were thinking of these questions, and finally googled the answers. Here are the the links that were ranked 1, when I did my search on March 20, 2008.
Who is God?
http://www.allaboutgod.com/who-is-god-c.htm
What is love?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsCXZczTQXo
How to Kiss?
The screenshot above shows the trends of these three queries, using the compare searches feature of Google Trends. Below are the complete lists of Top of Mind queries in Google Zeitgeist 2007.
Who is…
- who is god
- who is who
- who is lookup
- who is jesus
- who is it
- who is buckethead
- who is calling
- who is keppler
- who is this
- who is satan
What is…
- what is love
- what is autism
- what is rss
- what is lupus
- what is sap
- what is bluetooth
- what is emo
- what is java
- what is hpv
- what is gout
How to…
- how to kiss
- how to draw
- how to knit
- how to hack
- how to dance
- how to crochet
- how to meditate
- how to flirt
- how to levitate
- how to skateboard
Google Teaches Spelling
My friend misspelled Philippines a lot of times. It’s not only him though. In his Facebook wall, I saw some of his friends misspelled it too, when they asked him how was his time in this tropical country. I don’t blame them since this is not their country, and there also some Filipinos who misspell it. I just found it funny to see the different incorrect spellings.
So I told him my observations and he said he found it funny too. This time though he finally knew how to spell Philippines correctly, and told me it was a search engine who taught him how.
When he was here, he did some searches related to the Philippines, and he would type it as: philipines, phillipines, or phillippines. But over time, he learned to spell it correctly since he was using Google all the time.
This search engine has a spell checker which offers alternative spelling for queries. It doesn’t say you misspelled the word but it will ask you: “Did you mean: (a more common spelling)?” Even though there are people who find the spell checker feature helpful, some are unsatisfied.
Google, what time is it?
There’s something wrong with my computer for these past weeks, and I am lazy to figure out what causes it. What I have observed is that when it’s already on, the date is July 2003. I am more patient to just fix the date and time rather than fix the cause of the problem. So what I always do when this error happens is that I just click the time in my taskbar, and set the right data.
The timezone I keep is not GMT+8 but the timezone of my employer who currently lives in Boise, Idaho. Since it’s hard for me to remember the hour difference between GMT+8 and GMT-7, I just ask Google the time in Boise. I just type time in Boise in the search box and in an instant I know what it is.
Also, I somehow like to ask the search engine what time is it in my location even though I can check my wall clock. When I do this, I only type time in the search box, and there it goes the time on top of the search results.
I also have used it last January to check the time in Eastern Standard Time (EST), because I was preparing for a war in an online game. Our leader wanted us to attack our enemies at exactly 12:10 A.M. EST. So I asked Google, but the keywords ‘time in EST’ didn’t work though. So I typed time in New York since I knew it is in EST.
Knowing the time using this search engine is very useful when you try to keep in touch with your friends, relatives, or even your clients who are in different timezones. Just type time in and add their location, either a city or a country. I noticed though the feature doesn’t work in some country specific sites like mine which is Google.com.ph, so I use Google.com instead.
And about my computer, I think I will reboot it one of these days.
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