Page:Untangling the Web.pdf/59

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
There was a problem when proofreading this page.

DOCID: 4046925

UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

Google limits the number of search terms to 32 keywords. It ignores any terms beyond that number. However, there are ways to force Google to search for more than 32 keywords.

Google is not case sensitive. There does not appear to be anything you can do about this.

In late 2003 Google introduced automatic word stemming or truncation, i. e., searching for variations of search terms. Normally, word stemming involves searching for plurals and verb conjugations such as drink, drank, drunk. However, Google's word stemming is not consistent and somewhat confusing. For example, stemming does not work either with single word or phrase searches, i. e., a search on [child] will not find children. Yet a search on [child health] will find child, childhood, children, and children's. Google will also find some variations of verbs, e. g., a search on [drink water] will find drinking water. Users should still search on all variations of a term, including plurals. There is a Google hack for disabling word stemming.

Google automatically clusters search results. Multiple hits from the same site are indented and there is usually an option to see more results from a specific site.

Google permits the use of the OR operator in simple search. The OR must be capitalized.

UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
51