Search 1 Contents • • • • • • • • • Introduction to Search Google Account/Gmail Results page The Google search algorithm Preferences Forming a query Operators Other Google search applications Other Google applications 2 Introduction • What search engine(s) do you use? • What searches have you done lately? • Google is not necessarily the best search engine – http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/09/technology/personaltech/09pogue.html • However, if you can use Google well, you will know what to look for in other engines • For the rest of this lecture, let's get to know Google well, both its search and related capabilities. • From now on these lecture notes will disappear from the screen…. 3 Google Account/Gmail • A few Google facilities are available only to those with a Google account or gmail. – Blogger, YouTube comments, Google Groups, Web History, Google Docs • You can sign up for these facilities at www.google.com/accounts/login. – You can have an account without having gmail, using another email address. • Pros of Gmail – Available through any browser, 1GB storage, groups mails by subject, excellent search, good spam filter, nice add-ins. • Cons of Gmail – Lots of ads, possible privacy problems, no self-delivery, conversations cannot be split up. 4 The Results Page Sponsored (PPC) Links Search Toolbar Results 5 How are Google’s search results ordered? • Many (200+) factors considered by Google’s Algorithm • This algorithm is very important to businesses – Every business wants its page at the top! – Entire books, courses devoted to Search Engine Optimizaton: The art/science of getting your website at the top of results • Algorithm is tweaked by Google daily • Most important factor in algorithm: Page Rank – Page Rank is named after Larry Page, one of its inventors. Larry and Sergey Brin founded Google. • Google blew away the competition because it had Page Rank; no other search engine did. 6 What is Page Rank?* • Very roughly, the page rank of a page is the number of pages that link to that page – See those pages with the operator link: • http://www.google.com/intl/en/help/operators.html#link 7 What else is in Google's Algorithm? • Google will rank "your" page high in the results of a search for some keywords if: – The keywords are in prominent places on your page • Prominent = page title, headings, meta tags, text • Meta tags are part of the HTML of a page, not viewable by a user – The pages, pointing to your page, have many links pointing to them, i.e. have high page rank. • This is part of the definition of Page Rank – The keywords are close together on your page – The keywords are in the anchors of the pages pointing to your page • Now we'll move on to learning how to use Google search 8 Search History • Each browser keeps a history of the pages you have searched in that browser, on that computer. – Helpful to autocomplete when you type – This has nothing to do with google. • You can disable or clear that history feature. • Firefox: – Clear: Tools/Clear recent history • Click details and clear only the browsing and download history – Disable: Tools/Options/Privacy/Clear history when Firefox closes • Other browsers: http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer=465 9 Web History • This is a history of your google searches. • You can turn it on when you register your Google account, and access it at www.google.com/history • You can search it, remove items from it, see trends in your google search history 10 Preferences • On Google's home page, at the upper right corner, click settings/search settings • Note languages, number of results • Query suggestions – Uses advertisements as well as your web history • SearchWiki: Customize your searches! 11 Forming a Query • What you don’t want: Use the minus sign, – Ari Shapiro –NPR – Omits all the Ari Shapiros not at NPR • A phrase: Use quotes “…” – “Dan Shapiro” – omits all the "Dans" and the "Shapiros" • Something you must include: Use a plus + – Len Shapiro +”Portland State University” – Shows only the Len Shapiros at PSU • Show only certain filetypes: filetype: – Google filetype:ppt • Look within a certain domain: site: – Cyberculture site:www.pdx.edu • Do this and more on the Advanced Search page – www.google.com/advanced_search 12 Operators on Keyword(s) • Don't put a space after the colon! • Intitle:"tree removal" – Displays only sites whose titles include the phrase "tree removal" • Define:personable – Gives definitions from the web 13 Operators on URLs • Don't put a space after the colon! • Cache:www.cs.pdx.edu/~len – To see an old copy of my web page • Related:www.portlandfoodanddrink.com – To find similar pages 14 Miscellaneous Operators • • • • Phonebook:Leonard Shapiro Portland Oregon Movie:97223 Weather:portland,oregon Special number searches – UPS, FedEx, USPS, VIN, ISBN • www.google.com/intl/en/help/features.html 15 Which Principles does Google embody? • Data Rules: The value of an application is increased by the scale and dynamism of the data it manages • The long tail: Small products/ideas make up the great majority of all products/ideas. • Use your Users: Enable users to contribute content to the application • The Power of Groups: Apply the wisdom of users to solve problems • Enable Community: Enable users to share their experiences in your application • Folksonomy, not Taxonomy: Utilize user-generated tags to classify items, instead of expertly generated categories 16 Other Google Search Applications • Important: Use your search skills • Images – Tiger -white • • • • • • • Videos: youtube and more! News (location: , source: ) Shopping Groups (author: group: insubject: ) Scholar Finance Blogs 17 Other Google Applications • Maps, www.maps.google.com – Similar to mapquest or maps.yahoo.com, but has satellite/terrain views • Earth – Must download as a separate application – As if you could fly anywhere and see below you • Documents & Spreadsheets – Similar to Microsoft Word & Excel – Not quite compatible • E.g., if you load a Word document into G, it may not display completely • Google Docs was meant to be a new word processor, not a copy of Word – http://tinyurl.com/2k32sh – Documents stored on the Web – Easy to share with others – Price is right • Gmail – We've seen this before 18 More Google Applications • Calendar – Stored on the web – Easy to share with others • Google Alerts (under even more) – Be informed (email) when anything (keyword based) happens • Picasa: Photo editing, sharing • Directory: directory.google.com – Another way to search the web – Oldie but goodie 19 Other search engines • Wolfram alpha: www.wolframalpha.com – Computational knowledge engine – Try ../examples • A recent article ranking customer satisfaction with search engines: http://tinyurl.com/lvnca2 20