How to make Google behave: techniques for better results

How to make Google behave: techniques for
better results
Wednesday, 8
th
February 2012
University of Birmingham
Karen Blakeman
RBA Information Services
Slides are available at
http://www.rba.co.uk/as/

karen.blakeman@rba.co.uk
Twitter: @karenblakeman
http://www.rba.co.uk

Google Doodle
http://www.venganza.org/2008/04/google-doodle/

This presentation is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
How it all started
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11 November 1998
The Internet Archive
www.archive.org
Links (citations) a major part of
sorting search results
http://www.seobook.com/learn-seo/collateral-damage.php
Where is Google now?
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2001
Revenues $86,426 thousands
Net Income $10,964 thousands
2011
Revenues $37,905 millions
Net Income $9,737 millions
http://investor.google.com/financial/tables.html
2011 – 96% of revenues are
from advertising

Google is mass market
consumer oriented. Serious
researchers wanting reliable,
structured search are a
miniscule fraction of their
customer base.
How Google collects and organises information
"Crawls" the internet looking for new and updated pages
(follows links)
Adds copies of pages and documents to its database on
thousands of servers around the world
Has a primary index of higher "quality" documents and a
secondary index
Only primary index searched when running simple searches.
Secondary index comes into play with more complex
searches and if few results are returned
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How Google ranks and organises your results
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Google personalizes and tailors
your results depending on your
location, computer/device,
browser, past searches, what
you have looked at in the past,
your +1s, your blocked sites,
your Google+ account, your
android phone, what you had
for breakfast...and anything
else it can find by rummaging
around in your Google
dashboard
To see what's in your dashboard log in to your Google account and go to
http://www.google.com/dashboard/

All change
Gone
are
Google Labs, Wonderwheel, Image Swirl, starred results, UK
Maps property search, Google Squared, and lots more
The plus sign previously used to force an exact match search
(Google suggested quotes around words but that doesn't always
work!) But + sign still available in Google Scholar

Google no longer "ANDs" your search terms
New
are
Google+, Search+,
search side bars
, Search+,
Google+,
Verbatim,
Google+, Search+.....
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What does Google think you’re interested in?
Get a rough idea from your ad preferences
–
do not need to be logged in to a Google account
–
browser and machine specific
–
http://www.google.com/ads/preferences
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Opt out of targeted advertising
http://www.google.com/ads/preferences
Opt Out From Online Behavioral Advertising By Participating
Companies (BETA) :
http://www.aboutads.info/choices/

Network Advertising Initiative
http://www.networkadvertising.org/managing/opt_out.asp

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Web history
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Google automatically tracks your searches and what you click on
–

results are “personalised” based on your searches and page views
–
you do not have to be logged in to a Google account
–
stored in a cookie on your computer - machine and browser specific
Web History link appears in drop down menu under the cog wheel in
the upper right hand corner of the screen
–
click on the link for option to disable/enable Web History
Web history associated with your Google account
Signed in to your Google account?
Google account web history
–
stored on Google
Manage your web history from within your Google account
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Google Instant
Tries to predict what you are searching for as you type and displays
results as you type
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Google Instant
Only displays 10 results at a time
Disable Google Instant in Search Settings under the cog wheel
(upper right hand corner of your Google screen)
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Google knows best
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Hewish mild
Google decided to
change my search
to Jewish mild
without asking
=
Google decides that coots are lions.
A search for
coots mating
behaviour
becomes
lions
mating behaviour
Dear Google, stop messing with my search
http://www.rba.co.uk/wordpress/2011/11/08/dear-google-stop-messing-with-my-search/

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Google introduces the “soft AND”
“
When you do a multi-term query on Google (even with
quoted terms), the algorithm sometimes backs-off from hard
ANDing all of the terms together.......it’s clear that people will
often write long queries (with anywhere from 5 to 10 terms) for
which there are no results. Google will then selectively
remove the terms that are the lowest frequency to give you
some results (rather than none)....Soft AND is a way to
reduce the overall frustration and give the searcher something
to examine (and with luck, a chance to reformulate their
query).”
Dan Russell
http://www.rba.co.uk/wordpress/2011/11/08/dear-google-stop-messing-with-my-search/#comments
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Search Plus Your World (SPYW) referred to as Search+
forces Google+ onto all users (And the next Google killer
is….Google!
http://www.rba.co.uk/wordpress/2012/01/30/and-the-next-google-killer-is-google/
)
Simplified privacy policies and information from all your
Google services combined. Crossover of information e.g.
YouTube/Web search = weird results
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Before
After
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What I see on my screen for a search is
not what you’ll see on yours.
This affects how we advise users and
clients on the best search strategy.
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Why use Google at all?
Google is good at:
–
coverage for general web search
–
country versions give priority to local content
–
localisation at town/city level
•
may have to tell Google where you are based
•
don’t have to tell Google my town if I am looking for a local
restaurant, taxi or plumber
•
especially useful when using a mobile device
–
personalisation? Varies from person to person as to whether it is
useful
–
image search, Maps, Google Finance, Scholar (but know it's
limitations)
–
rolling out features worldwide
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Damage limitation
1.
If you have a Google account check your dashboard at
http://www.google.com/dashboard/
and remove stuff you
don't need or want (won't be possible for everything)
2.
Sign out of your account before you search
3.
Turn your web history off, turn Instant off (under Search
Settings)
4.
Increase the number of results that are displayed per page
from 10 to at least 30 (under Search Settings)
5.
If you can, use Google Chrome as your browser and go
"Incognito"
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Use the results sidebars
These help you focus your
search
Vary depending on type of
search e.g. web, news, images
Open up the "more" options to
see everything
Verbatim is now one of the
most important options
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Verbatim search
Forces Google to run an exact match
search. Run your search first and then
select Verbatim from the left hand menu
on your results page
Appears that you can include advanced
search commands in your strategy e.g.
OR and the tilde (~) for synonyms
Cannot be combined with time options
Google: Verbatim for exact match search
http://www.rba.co.uk/wordpress/2011/11/18/google-verbatim-for-exact-match-search/

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Location
Google uses your IP address to
try and identify the country you
are in and your town
Country versions of Google give
priority to local content – change
to different country Google for a
different perspective
Specifying town useful for very
local searching but may want to
change location to just UK for
general searches
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Search tricks
Imagine what you would like to appear in your ideal document
and include those terms in your strategy (you may have to use
Verbatim)
Repeat important search terms in your search strategy
renewable energy biofuels wave wind wind wind
Change the order of your terms
renewable energy biofuels wave wind
wind renewable wave biofuels energy
Change one of your search terms
coots mating behaviour
coots courtship behaviour
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Advanced search
Advanced Search screen (now hidden under cog wheel in upper
right hand corner of the screen)
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Advanced search
Can do more with commands
For example selecting file type ppt on the Advanced Search
screen will only search for ppt and not include pptx
Use filetype command instead, for example
diabetic retinopathy filetype:ppt
(2870 results)
diabetic retinopathy filetype:ppt OR
filetype:pptx
(3050 results)
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Selected commands
filetype:
for example
pancreatic cancer filetype:xls OR
filetype:xlsx
site:
for example
pancreatic cancer statistics site:nhs.uk
OR site:gov.uk
inurl
: or
allinurl:
for example
diabetes
inurl:retinopathy
intitle:
or
allintitle:
for example
allintitle:diabetic retinopathy
asterisk (*)
to search for terms separated by 1-5 words (may have to use
quotation marks)
macular * degeneration
"macular * degeneration"
Numeric range search
[search terms] [1
st
number]..[2
nd
number] [unit of measurement (optional)]
oil production forecasts 2013..2020
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Synonyms
Google often looks for variations of your terms but you cannot
rely on it always happening
Use the tilde ~ before a term to look for what Google considers
are synonyms
–
~energy will pick up oil, fuel, gas, electricity
Synonyms not scientifically accurate
–
using ~aspartame adverse reactions will pick up articles on
sucralose, which is a very different artificial sweetener
Can be used with Verbatim
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Google sidebars
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Image
s
Videos
News
Books
Blogs
Google Images – Sites with images
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Useful if you want to describe the image, for
example
moth UK black cream spots
Related searches
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Reading level
Does not use publishers’ meta data
Seems to base analysis on number of technical terms and
industry specific jargon
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Social
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Translated pages for a different perspective
Google suggests
languages from context
of search but you can
choose your own
Your search is
translated and the
results are translated
into your original
language
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Cached and similar pages
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Hover over a result and a "preview" of the page
should appear to the right together with cached and
similar links
Google Trends
http://www.google.com/trends

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Google Trends for websites
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Google Insights for Search
http://www.google.com/insights/search/
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Google Insights for Search
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Google alternatives - Bing and Yahoo
Yahoo now uses Bing’s database and ranking algorithms for most
country versions
Many of the Advanced Search commands are similar to Google’s
see Search Tools Summary and Comparison
http://www.rba.co.uk/search/compare.shtml
Bing advanced search screen minimalist - use commands
detailed list at Advanced Operator Reference
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff795620.aspx
(some no longer
work)
Also beware – “Bing Adds Adaptive Search, Customized by Your
Search History - Search Engine Watch”
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2109647/Bing-Adds-Adaptive-Search-Customized-by-Your-Search-History

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Bing
Most of the interesting developments and features are only
available in the US version
Results tend to be more consumer/retail focused unless
using advanced search features
Coverage not identical to Google’s - sometimes yields
important unique content, especially in research and
business
Sometimes more up to date than Google
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DuckDuckGo
http://duckduckgo.com/
DuckDuckGo – silly name but a neat little search tool :
http://www.rba.co.uk/wordpress/2011/11/07/duckduckgo-silly-name-but-a-neat-little-search-tool/
No tracking, no “filter bubble”
Commands
site: inbody: intitle: filetype:
sort:date to sort by date (uses results from Blekko)
region:cc (e.g. de) to boost a country
Syntax and keyboard shortcuts at
http://duckduckgo.com/goodies.html
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Blekko
http://blekko.com/
slashtags for sorting by date (/date), searching for images (/images)
and videos (/videos)
Use public slashtags to search a group of web sites covering a
particular topic or type of site e.g. /library or create your own to
search your specified list of sites (similar to Google Custom Search
Engines)
wind turbine electricity generation
/karenblakeman/renewable
“
Musings about librarianship: Using Blekko to search across
thousands of library sites”
http://musingsaboutlibrarianship.blogspot.com/2010/11/using-blekko-to-search-across-thousands.html

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Blekko
Cannot do filetype, inurl, intitle searches
Drop down menu next to page in results list for
–
site search (or use /site)
–
similar pages (or use /similar)
–
inbound links to the page (or use /links)
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Google Scholar
A useful place to start your research or if you are looking for a specific
paper but no source list, not comprehensive and omits many key
scientific publications
Both peer-reviewed and un-reviewed articles, pre-prints, institutional
repositories, references to books, citations
Does not use publishers’ meta data
Author search unreliable, search on year of publication unreliable
Sometimes does strange things with your search terms
Peter Jasco - Google Scholar's Ghost Authors, Lost Authors, and
Other Problems
http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6698580.html
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Authors encouraged to "claim papers"
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Scholar author profile
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Mendeley.com
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Images - copyright
Always, always check and double check the copyright - images
may have a digital watermark and be tracked e.g. Digimarc
Creative Commons does not mean you can do what you like with
an image
–
six licences
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

“
Open-licencing your images. What it means and how to do it.”
Andy Mabbett aka pigsonthewing
–
http://pigsonthewing.org.uk/open-licencing-images-what-how/

Karen Blakeman's Blog “Free-to-use images might not be”
–
http://www.rba.co.uk/wordpress/2009/07/16/free-to-use-images-might-not-be/

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Google images
Make use of search options in the side bar or on the advanced
search screen
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Google Images
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“
More sizes”
“
Similar images”
Google Images – use an existing image
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Click on the camera icon in
the search box and then
either enter the URL of an
image or upload it.
On the results page you
can add keywords to refine
the search
Google images - creative commons, public domain
Google advanced image search - use the usage rights, but
always double check the licence on the web site
Public domain
–
carry out your search in the image search bar and when the
results appear on screen add
&as_rights=cc_publicdomain
to the end of the string
in the URL/address bar of your browser
–
but public domain may refer to another photo – check the web
site hosting the photo
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Flickr
Flickr Creative Commons
http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons
or advanced search
screen
http://www.flickr.com/search/advanced/
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Images - other sources for Creative Commons
and public domain images
Wikimedia Commons
http://commons.wikimedia.org/
(check the
licence information towards the bottom of the page e.g.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Thomas_Beach_by_Thomas_Beach.jpg
)
MorgueFile.com
http://www.morguefile.com/
- public domain
Geograph
http://www.geograph.org.uk/
Creative Commons 2.0
Most of the images on US government web sites are public
domain (but do check)
NASA
http://www.nasa.gov/
- public domain
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Google maps
maps.google.co.uk
Public transport option under
'Directions' at last includes
trains as well as the
underground and buses
Estimated petrol cost for
'Directions' using a car
Now shows approximate
location of post codes
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Google street view
As well as for personal use, useful for assessing location of a
business (but remember out of date images)
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Google Videos
NOT the same as YouTube
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Video
Bing Videos
YouTube, Vimeo.com, DailyMotion.com
iTunes, iTunes U

Blinkx -
http://www.blinkx.com/

- good for catching up with news
Zuula -
http://www.zuula.com/

- click on the video tab
Browsys Finder
http://www.browsys.com/finder/

- click on the video tab
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Google News
http://news.google.co.uk

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books.google.com
Or use the Books option in the menu on the left hand side of the
screen
Includes magazines, journals, newspapers
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Google Blogs
Use the blog option in the results page left hand menu or go to
http://www.google.com/blogsearch/

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Discussions
Forums and Q&As
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Google Art Project
http://www.googleartproject.com/

“
A unique collaboration with some of the world’s most acclaimed
art museums to enable people to discover and view more than
a thousand artworks online in extraordinary detail.”
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Google Finance
http://www.google.co.uk/finance
http://www.google.com/finance
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Google Public Data Explorer
http://www.google.com/publicdata/
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Google Public Data Explorer
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Google Internet Stats
http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/landing/internetstats/
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Fusion tables
http://www.google.com/fusiontables/

http://www.google.com/fusiontables/DataSource?snapid=S199717WCd8

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Voices for the Library Closures map :
http://www.voicesforthelibrary.org.uk/wordpress/?page_id=765

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Design your own search engine
For
–
regularly searched sites
–
selected sites on a topic
–
searching sites on a reading list
Google Custom Search Engines
–
http://www.google.com/cse
/
–
at least hundreds of sites, maybe thousands!
–
can import lists of sites
Need a Google account to set one up
Cannot search password protected sources or sites where
you have to fill in a form to access the information
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Want to explore other stuff? Zuula.com
Type in your search once and work your way through the search tools
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Keeping up to date
Inside Search
http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/

Official Google Blog
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/

Search Engine Land
http://searchengineland.com/

Search Engine Watch
http://searchenginewatch.com/
Boolean Black Belt-Sourcing/Recruiting
http://www.booleanblackbelt.com/

Karen Blakeman’s Blog
http://www.rba.co.uk/wordpress/

Phil Bradley's weblog
http://philbradley.typepad.com/

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YouTube - Goggle Vision: using electronic resources
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5slpJMRWKA8

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