Searching the Internet

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How Search Engines Work (The Simple Version)

When you search, Google (or any search engine) isn’t searching the live internet - it’s searching its own copy of billions of pages, organized and ranked.

What Affects What Shows Up First?

1. Relevance - How well the page matches your search
2. Quality - How trustworthy and well-written the page is
3. Popularity - How many other sites link to it

🎯 Fun Fact: Google processes over 8.5 billion searches per day. “What time is it” and “how’s the weather” are among the most common!

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Basic Searching

The address bar is your search box. Just type what you want to know.

Good Search Habits

Instead of…	Try…
“stuff about cooking"	"easy dinner recipes for beginners"
"Paris thing"	"Eiffel Tower history"
"that movie with the guy"	"Leonardo DiCaprio movies Titanic”

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Reading Search Results

When you search, you’ll see a list of results. Here’s how to read them:

Council Library - Opening Hours & Location
www.council.gov.au › library                    ← This is the website address
The Council Library is open Monday to Friday 9am-6pm,
Saturday 10am-4pm. Located at 123 Main Street...   ← This is a preview

What to Look For

Part	What It Tells You
Title (blue/purple)	What the page is about - click this to visit
URL (green/gray)	The website address - is it a site you trust?
Description	A preview of what’s on the page

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Try This Now: Search Practice

1. Open your browser and go to google.com (or just type in the address bar)
2. Search for: “weather [your city name]”
3. Notice Google shows the weather directly - no clicking needed!
4. Now search for: “what time is it in Tokyo”
5. See how Google answers directly again?

These are called “instant answers” - Google tries to answer without making you visit a website.

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Advanced Search Tricks

Here’s where it gets fun. These tricks work on Google and most other search engines:

Exact Phrase: Use Quotes

Search: "to be or not to be"

This finds pages with that exact phrase, in that exact order.

Exclude Words: Use Minus

Search: apple -iphone -mac

This searches for apple (the fruit) while excluding results about Apple products.

Search a Specific Site

Search: climate change site:bbc.com

This only shows results from BBC’s website.

Fill in the Blank

Search: "the * of Christmas"

The asterisk (*) acts as a wildcard. Google will find “the night of Christmas,” “the spirit of Christmas,” etc.

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Quick Reference: Search Operators

What You Want	How to Search	Example
Exact phrase	”words in quotes"	"chocolate chip cookies”
Exclude a word	word -exclude	jaguar -car
Specific site	site:example.com	recipes site:bbcgoodfood.com
Fill in blank	use * for missing words	”life is like * of chocolates”
Either/or	word OR word	recipe vegetarian OR vegan
Number range	number..number	laptop $500..$800

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Try This Now: Advanced Search

Try these searches:

1. Your name in quotes - e.g., "Jane Smith" - see what comes up about you (or people with your name)
2. A product with a price range - e.g., headphones $50..$100
3. Something you want to know, on a specific site - e.g., pasta recipe site:delish.com

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Google’s Special Searches

Type these directly into Google for instant answers:

Type This	What You Get
weather Sydney	Weather forecast
100 USD in EUR	Currency conversion
5 feet in cm	Unit conversion
define serendipity	Dictionary definition
timer 5 minutes	A countdown timer
flip a coin	Heads or tails

🎯 Fun Fact: Google has hidden games! Search for “snake game,” “Pac-Man,” or “tic tac toe” to play directly in the browser!

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Evaluating What You Find

Not everything on the internet is true. Here’s a quick checklist:

Signs a Source Might Be Trustworthy

✅ Known organization or publication
✅ Author is named and has credentials
✅ Information matches other reliable sources
✅ The site looks professional
✅ Dates show it’s recent (for current topics)

Red Flags

❌ No author or organization listed
❌ Sensational headlines (“SHOCKING!” “You won’t believe!”)
❌ Spelling and grammar errors throughout
❌ No other sources confirm the information
❌ It’s trying very hard to sell you something

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When You Can’t Find What You Need

Try These

1. Rephrase your search - Use different words
2. Be more specific - Add details like location, date, type
3. Be less specific - Remove words if you have too many
4. Try a different search engine - DuckDuckGo, Bing, or Ecosia
5. Ask your question directly - “What is the capital of Australia?” works!

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Key Takeaways

• Clear, specific questions get the best results
• Use quotes for exact phrases: “like this”
• Use minus to exclude words: -likethis
• Look at the source before trusting information
• Google can answer many questions directly without visiting a website
• If you can’t find something, try rephrasing

Next up: Managing multiple pages with tabs and saving your favorite sites with bookmarks!