Get better results from web searches

When looking up subjects using a search engine, such as Google, Bing or Ask Jeeves, try using ‘OR’ and ‘NOT’ between search terms. All search engines support these two logical operators, but you must type them in capital letters. An example would be emperor penguin longevity NOT books.

To broaden the search to include sites using ‘lifespan’ instead of ‘longevity’, type emperor penguin longevity OR lifespan NOT books.

Surrounding the phrase in speech marks “We’ll meet again” will tell Google to search for that exact phrase.

The minus sign excludes a term from the search. Try searching triumph spitfire ­-supermarine and Google will exclude pages with the word supermarine.

K Taylor

Baffled by jargon? See our free online Jargon Buster.