Find Angel

Search skills

None of this is expert advice. It's what people worked out for themselves, usually the hard way — what actually helped, and what they'd tell someone standing where you are. Take what fits and leave the rest.

How this was put together

If you only read a few

  1. Wrap search terms in quotation marks to locate exact phrase matches.

    Quotes limit results to pages where those words appear in that precise sequence or verbatim.

    • If you don't get any results, it's probably too specific.

    11 people, independently

  2. Search for 'Adopt a Puppy' to view heartwarming ads that may improve your mood.

    The influx of puppy images can make you happier.

    • Do not buy any pets from these results, as many online sales are scams.

    one person who lived it

  3. Scroll deep into Google search results (e.g., page 14) to find authentic recipes, avoiding SEO-optimized fluff on page 1.

    Page 1 is filled with 'me too' content and professional SEO tactics; deeper pages may have better quality but carry more risk from random bloggers compared to trusted sources.

    • The further you go, the more of a risk you're taking.
    • Trust established sources like Alton Brown or Serious Eats more than random food bloggers.

    one person who lived it

  4. Add a minus sign before specific years (e.g., '-2010') in your Google search to exclude results containing that year.

    This deliberately removes results with that date, helping you find help for older software versions.

    one person who lived it

    • Add a minus sign immediately before a word (with no space) to exclude that term from search results.14
    • Add a minus sign before specific brand names (e.g., '-office') in your Google search to exclude those products.1

  5. Precede key search terms with a '+' symbol in Google queries to mandate their inclusion.

    This syntax instructs the engine to focus on those specific words in the results.

    3 people, independently

  1. Avoid seeking solutions on general Q&A websites, as answers there often lack detail and expertise.

    Solutions on these sites tend to be dry in details and provided by people who may not know what they are talking about.

    one person who lived it

  2. Add '-youtube' to your search query to avoid video-heavy results when seeking text instructions.

    It helps you avoid searching through pages of Google results for specific technical help.

    one person who lived it

  3. Add 'filetype:' followed by an extension (e.g., filetype:pdf) to restrict results to specific file formats.

    Google will only return links to that specific filetype.

    3 people, independently

  4. Note that small businesses on platforms like Ecrater and Bonanza may suffer declining sales as Google Product Search shifts to paid advertisements.

    Free stores no longer show up in search results without payment.

    one person who lived it

7 more on this

  1. Search Amazon for products to find competitive prices driven by third-party sellers.

    Third-party sellers can undercut competition on the site.

    • It is not helpful for searching obscure products that are not stocked.

    one person who lived it

  2. Exclude multiple related keywords (e.g., '-avengers -marvel') to filter out dominant topics and find more relevant results.

    It prevents news posts or unrelated popular topics from dominating the results.

    2 people, independently

  3. Use the 'inurl:' operator in Google searches to match pages containing specific words in their URL, such as 'inurl:subredditname'.

    It is handy for sites that lack a good search function or have hidden content, such as news sites.

    one person who lived it

  4. Avoid websites that purport to specialize exclusively in the specific type of product you are considering.

    These sites may have been bought by the companies selling those products.

    one person who lived it

  5. Append '-shutterstock' or '-stock' to your Google image searches to filter out stock photo services.

    This filters off sites like Alamy, Depositphotos, and Dreamstock.

    2 people, independently

  6. Watch videos directly within Bing search results to avoid visiting external websites and ads.

    It is convenient and removes the need for an adblocker.

    one person who lived it

  7. Check YouTube for live updates or recent news when Google News serves outdated articles.

    one person who lived it

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