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/fina
ncial/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/2011/11/1
8/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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Images

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_Th
omas_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=S199717W
Cd8


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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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