6 ‘hidden’ Google tools

Having trouble finding what you were looking for? Unbury your results with these often-overlooked search tools.

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In reality, Google has evolved rapidly and now offers a variety of integrated tools to refine your searches and help you find the information you need in the context you need it. These useful tools are perfect for PR professionals, researchers, and journalists as it saves the time and effort it takes to do research, no matter the subject.

Even frequent users and search specialists regularly overlook some of Google’s most useful features. Take a look at our list of these handy tools:

Google Verbatim

When you perform a search, Google rarely takes your text at face value. Instead, it might suggest alternative spellings, provide some results based on synonyms and other grammatical forms of the words you typed (e.g. “shop” for “store” or “shopping” for “shop”), or display results with similar terms.

However, you can use the Verbatim tool to have Google search only for the specific terms you entered. This is particularly useful in situations in which Google gets the context of your search wrong, displays searches with synonyms that distort your intended meaning, or favors the type of content you want to avoid (e.g. news articles). By using the Verbatim tool Google will not make the following changes:

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