HOW DO I GET THE BEST OUT OF MY GOOGLE SEARCHES?

For many of us, any sort of internet search starts and ends with Google. However, there's one small problem - sometimes, what you really need may be on the 2,64,568th page. Smarter Google users will point out that you can use the minus/plus sign, inverted commas (double quotes) or the star (*) symbol to search better. But sometimes, search alternatives can give you better results with less work.

For instance, try http://search.io which offers a simple, Google-like search page - except that you can choose from various search engines for different types of files from a dropdown menu.

You can use Imagery (http://elzr.com/imagery) to search for images instead of Google Images.

When you don't know exactly what you're searching for, use Quintura (www.quintura.com) - it will throw up results with a visual tag cloud, which you can use to refine or alter your search.

Moosearch (http://moosearch.com) lets you choose between various different categories before entering a search term.

The PDF Search Engine (www.pdf-search-engine.com) lets you search for books and magazines

while Yoozila (www.yoozila.com) will segregate your results according to type.

A handy tip: if you find any of these search tools helpful, just press Ctrl + D on your keyboard to add a bookmark for later use.

Source: www.economictimes.com

HITESH RAJ BHAGAT is ET’s resident geek