* cothrige <cothrige@bellsouth.net> [2006 Nov 06 18:37 -0600]:
> * Andrew Ritchie (aritchie@unimelb.edu.au) wrote:
> > Nate Duehr wrote:
> > >
> > >(The "+" is a modifier for Google that allows you to give Google TWO
> > >terms to search for together, usually a better result than just a few
> > >words and a single topic. topic 1 + topic 2 type of thing. "rsync" +
> > >"Debian Sarge", you know... that sort of thing. Try it out, you'll get
> > >addicted to it quickly.)
> >
> > Does the "+" really do anything?
> > Put the example search into google with or without the "+" finds exactly
> > the same results.
> >
> > Maybe it works differently but rysnc and "debian sarge" just happens to
> > find the same results with either method?
>
> I have wondered this very thing. Out of curiosity I did the same
> thing you did here, and searched for "debian sarge" + "rsync" and then
> "debian sarge" "rsync" (I am sure that the second quotes are useless,
> but I left them in anyway just to be careful) and both seemed to retun
> identically. Each had the same items in the same order on the first
> page, and each had "about 67000" hits.
IIRC, Google made the + the default. I recall using search engines prior
to Google coming on the scene and the + was necessary to ensure both
terms were found in the results. Sadly, some current site specific
search engines are still brain dead or, worse, require the specific word
'and'.
The biggest help with Google is to quote a phrase--particularly output
from an error message--along with another term like Debian to zero in
on that needle in the Webstack.
- Nate >>