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Search Tools Summary and Comparison

The table below summarises and compares a selection of the advanced search commands that are available in Google, Bing and DuckDuckGo. There is a full list of Bing's commands at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff795620.aspx. DuckDuckGo's syntax is at http://help.duckduckgo.com/customer/portal/articles/300304-syntax.

PDF Version

 

Google
www.google.com

Bing
www.bing.com

DuckDuckGo
http://duckduckgo.com/

Default search

Uses a "soft and". Omits words if number of results is low or zero.

All of your words

All of your words

Wild card or truncation

Not user specified. Google automatically looks for variations and synonyms.

No

No

Alternative terms or variations

~ for synonym search e.g. ~energy
Use OR for example oil OR petroleum

Use OR for example oil OR petroleum

Use OR for example oil OR petroleum

Suggests other search strategies and related terms

Suggests additional terms as you type in your search. Also 'Related searches' option in the menu on the left hand side of the results page.

Suggests additional terms as you type in your search. 'Related Searches' to the right of your web search results.

'Search suggestions' to the right of your results

Phrases

"." for example "climate change"

"." for example "climate change"

"..." for example "climate change"

Proximity

Use the asterisk to stand in for one or more words in a phrase for example solar * panels

near:n
For example
solar near:2 panels

No

Exclude pages with a word

Precede words with a minus sign (-) .
For example cats -lions

Precede words with a minus sign (-) or use NOT For example
cats -lions
cats NOT lions

Precede words with a minus sign (-)
For example
cats -lions

Boost importance of a term

Repeat the term 2 or more times in your search. Also changes the order of the results.

Repeat the term 2 or more times in your search. Also changes the order of the results.

Repeat the term 2 or more times in your search. Also changes the order of the results.

Word in URL :

inurl: for example inurl:chocolate

No

No

Word in title

intitle: for example intitle:petroleum

intitle: for example intitle:petroleum

intitle: or t: for example intitle:petroleum

Word in the text

intext: ensures that an exact match of your term appears in the text of the page for example intext:ww1

Also seems to give greater weighting to the term.

No

inbody: or b: ensures that an exact match of your term appears in the text of the page. For example inbody:ww1

Specify part of domain or limit by web site

site: looks for your terms on a specific site or type of site. For example
UK carbon emissions site:gov.uk

site: looks for your terms on a specific site or type of site. For example UK carbon emissions site:gov.uk

site: looks for your terms on a specific site or type of site. For example
UK carbon emissions site:gov.uk

Similar pages

related: looks for pages or sites that are similar in content. For example related:www.apis.ac.uk

No

No

File type or format

filetype: Looks for files in the specified format. For example banking reform 2012 filetype:pdf

filetype: Looks for files in the specified format. For example banking reform 2012 filetype:pdf

filetype: Looks for files in the specified format. For example banking reform 2012 filetype:pdf

Search by date

Use the options in the menu on the left hand side of your results page.

daterange:
Uses Julian date format for example daterange:2456098-2456104

Date convertor available at
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/ docs/JulianDate.php/

No

 

No, but can sort by date by adding sort:date to your search

Limit by geography

Country versions of Google

loc: followed by two letter country code for example loc:de

region: or r: followed by two letter country code for example region:de

Boolean

OR

AND, OR, NOT and parentheses ( ).

AND, OR, NOT and parentheses ( ).

Cached copy

Click on the cached link in the preview of the page in the results list next or search using cache: for example cache:rba.co.uk/sources

Click on the green arrow next to the title of the page in your results list

No

Unique features

Numeric range search for example

toblerone 1..5 kg

Synonym search. Precede your term with a ~ for example ~energy

daterange: (uses Julian date format - see above))

Additional search features in the menu on the left hand side of the results page

feed: looks for an RSS or Atom feed related to your search term for example feed:gardening

linkfromdomain: finds all the outbound links on a domain for example linkfromdomain:rba.co.uk

No tracking, no personalisation or "filter bubble"