Power Searching Animals

Power Searching has proved to provide some important tricks to filter search results on Google. The pace of the course was not rigorous, so it was easy to pick out important information.

 The beginning of working with Power Searching with Google began with an introduction, and it here I learned the art of filtering image results by color and how Google tries to provide the search results page with advertisements that best correspond to the needs of the searcher. First, filtering image results by color seemed like a pretty blatant way to eliminate excess results, but I had never noticed it before. Having it pointed out to me was very useful. Simply go to the image results page, and on the bottom left side there is a box with colors in it. Pick the color you want the images in your SERP to resemble, and voila. Simple, right?  I wish I had known of this tool when I had done my ancient civilizations project in middle school. I could have gotten more credible results. Another useful technique I have learned in this lesson is the ability to search a page for a specific word or phrase by typing CTRL + F. I'm glad this tool was pointed out to because I have ever come to a page that has lots and lots of text, and I know the information I want is on it, I can search that specific webpage to find my results faster and more efficiently.

 In class two, more searching techniques were opened up to me. Using the word "define" in a search, followed by a word, allows Google to know the top result you want is the definition of that word.
Also, I learned the way Google tries to put advertisements in the SERP that best match the search itself. Say you type in "cats" to Google. Your search may show an advertisement for a pet store or animal shelter. In this day and age, the world is powered by advertisements, so even though the ads are there, it's nice to know there has been some thought put into what type of ads would show up in the SERP.

Class three of Power Searching with Google was definitely the more informative class. It is here I learned that you can use "operators" to filter your results by typing in a word or set of words followed by a colon. The one that stood out to me the most was the operator intext, which shows your exact search query in the SERP. This is tremendously helpful to anyone who knows they can only get the results they want if every single word in their search is strung together. Also, in class three it was made clear to me that if you add a (-) to your search, it will eliminate any results with the words attached to that (-).

Power Searching with Google has proved to be an informative class that makes clear all the tools Google has to offer to its users. I sure do understand now why they call it "power searching".