1. How does Google’s search engine work?
It’s a secret! Seriously, they won’t tell you exactly how they do it.
Robots scour the web and index everything, but really mostly just text.
Google will even find pages without links to them, but it may take a little longer.
Google uses a PageRank algorithm to weight the results and determine the order of presentation.
Priority of search results is determined, in some manner, by the number of links to a page.
Google makes most of its money from targeted advertising based on the indexed page content.
2. Open a browser and go to http://www.google.com
3. What does “I’m feeling lucky” do?
Search for: "white perch" using the regular google search button
Do the same with the “I’m feeling lucky” button...what happens?
4. Try the following searches using these custom search options:
Search for: paris (caps don’t matter)
Search for: paris france (the default search uses “and”)
Search for: paris -france (minus means not)
Search for: “paris hilton” (in quotes means exact phrase)
Search for: paris or hilton (using or means find pages with either paris or hilton)
Search for: paris hilton
Search for: hilton paris (does the order of search terms make a difference?)
Compare results
Which search provided the best results if you were looking for the Hilton Hotel in Paris?
What third word would help in that search?
5. Click on the “Web + Show Options” button in the upper left of the main results list
What tools do you see?
6. Google ignores common words unless you tell it not to
Force Google to search for a common word
Use +word
Search for: +the young +and +the restless
Seach for: the young and the restless
7. Sponsored links...what are they?
Search for: fusion reactor
What comes up in Sponsored Links? Any fusion reactors for sale?
How did those items get listed? Do you trust them?
8. Open a browser to: http://scholar.google.com
Search for the word: caffeine
Now try that same search in regular googleHomework: What do you think would happen if you used the word “sex”?
9. Google’s SafeSearch
On the Google search page, in the upper right, choose Settings/Search Settings
Set the desired level of filtering under SafeSearch Filtering
10. What do Google search results look like in other countries?
Results vary depending on the privacy and censorship rules of each country.
In China, a Google search on Tiananmen Square doesn’t mention the 1989 massacre.
So much for "Don't Be Evil"
11. Search engine vs. calculation engine
Go to wolframalpha.com
Type in: distance from earth to moon
Do the same in Google
How do they differ?
12. Other search engines:
Pick a term and search for it in both Google and Bing and compare.
What are metasearch engines? Examples: webcrawler, dogpile
13. Try “babelfish.yahoo.com” for a language translation.
Translate “Where is the bathroom?” or some other phrase you might need in a foreign land.
Do a reverse translation back to English...does it still make sense?
14: What if I want to search the way a website used to look in the past?
Try the Wayback Machine at http://www.archive.org and use NAU’s website for example
15: People searches
Google search name and city and state
People under 30? Try Facebook (membership required)
People with a telephone line registered in their name (a landline, usually older people), try whitepages.com
Missed a call? Whitepages is also good for reverse phone lookups
Look yourself up...what information is correct? What is wrong?
16: Map searches
Search for your home address in each of the following and compare:
maps.google.com
mapquest.com
maps.yahoo.com
17. How do I clear my search history from my browser?
Covering your tracks: useful when shopping for Christmas presents or looking up old girlfriends :D
You will want to find History and hit the Clear button...usually Tools/Options or Preferences
You can also tell your browser not to keep a history (useful in computer labs)
Questions?