Google Tips and Tricks (Part 1)

Who hasn’t relied on Google to search for everything and anything? We are all guilty! There are things you might not know about the popular search engine. Have you ever tried searching for images using a specific image? Discover useful Google search tricks that you may find helpful and interesting.

• Searching using an image. We usually type keywords when we search on Google. Try looking up for an image using another image. Seems confusing? Simply to go to images.google.com and instead of typing keywords in the search box, you have to click on the camera button. You can upload the photo or paste the URL of the photo. Things are easier if you are using Google Chrome browser. When you right click an image in Chrome, select the Search Google for this image option. Then, Google will show you results pertaining to that photo. This will come in handy when you wish to find duplicated photos. However, it is quite unreliable as Google will also display similar images. Finding the exact image may be harder than expected, but it will still give you great leads.

• View the cached version of a website. Google’s most unique and helpful feature is that you can now view the previous versions of a website. Take a look at your Google search results carefully, and notice the ▼ symbol beside the website links. You can click green pointing-down arrow, and choose the cached option. After, you will be redirected to the website’s last saved version. This feature is helpful when there are network problems, and the live version of the website is currently unavailable. There’s no need to worry when a website is offline because you can access its cached version using Google’s helpful tool.

• Built-in dictionary. There’s no need to Google for various online dictionaries because Google will help you instead. Just type define:  plus the word you want to search and Google will look for the word’s definition. Easy, right? Aside from the definition, you can also view its synonyms and translate it into another language if you wish. You can view this tutorial to learn more. Ever since, Google has been your research companion and now, it’s making your life easier because of its dictionary function.

• Casual games. Did you know that there a few fun games hidden on Google? Game number one is called Atari Breakout. To activate the hidden game, you have to go to images.google.com  and type in the words “Atari Breakout”. After, the image search results will then morph into a colorful game board. If you do not like it,  game number two is Pac-Man. It is Google’s first ever playable doodle. Here’s a tip for you: if you click Insert Coin multiple times,  Ms. Pac-Man will join the game and you can control her with the WASD keys. Game number three is called Zerg Rush. The objective of this game is to shoot before the zeroes attack and destroy your Google search results. In order to play this game, just go to the Google and type in zerg rush.