Google Web Search is a feature of Google that allows you to search for pages across the entire web. By default, it also will find matches from related Google search services, all mixed together as part of the “Everything” results that display.

Using Google Web Search is easy — just go to the Google home page and perform a search. However, you might find our guides below provide you some helpful information on how to get more out of your Google searching:

Search Engine Land’s Guide To Google
How To Use Google To Search
Meet The New Google Look & Its Colorful, Useful “Search Options” Column

Further below are recent articles from Search Engine Land related to Google Web Search:

Gmail Search Field Trial Adds Calendar Results To Google Search

Feb 27, 2013 at 1:49pm ET by Danny Sullivan

Google keeps increasing the amount of information it will show from your Gmail account within your Google searches, if you're part of the Gmail Search Field Trial. The latest addition? Your calendar results. The idea is that if you do a search, you'll see matching information from your calendar showing within Google's search results, when it's relevant. For example, Google shared this screenshot showing matches appearing in a search for "what is on my calendar today:" I'm in the field trial and couldn't get this to trigger at all, so perhaps it's still rolling out. I'll be playing [...]

Privacy Vs Censorship: Google, Spanish Government Face Off In European Courts

Feb 27, 2013 at 1:29pm ET by Greg Sterling

In a test case that could have significant implications for Google throughout Europe the company faced off against the Spanish data protection authority in the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg. One could frame the case as "privacy vs. censorship." From the Spanish government's point of view its data protection authority is simply vindicating the recently articulated right (of individuals) "to be forgotten" -- to have content or data about them removed from the search index upon request. From Google's perspective, if the court agrees with Spain, the outcome would be tanta [...]

The Hidden Google Search Box

Feb 26, 2013 at 1:18pm ET by Barry Schwartz

It seems as if Google is testing hiding the search box completely from the Google search results page. A post in a Google+ Community by Tom Johns spotted this first. He said he was using a beta version of Chrome, and when he searched, the only way to submit a search query at Google was to do so in the Omnibox built into Chrome. Here is a picture of how Google's search results page looks without the search box: You can replicate this yourself by adding some URL parameters to the Google search URL. For example, here is how you can search for [google] on Google without the search box [...]

3 Major Tablet & Smartphone Search Opportunities For Multinational Websites

Feb 26, 2013 at 9:10am ET by Chris Liversidge

Looking back at 2012 statistics for smartphone usage & tablet sales figures paints a picture of significant multinational SEO opportunity in 2013. Here are three key SEO opportunities for 2013 and how to take advantage of them.

Will Google Penalize Chromebooks, Google Analytics, AdWords & Google+ For Using Advertorials?

Feb 23, 2013 at 8:18pm ET by Danny Sullivan

A day after warning publishers against advertorials, will Google's search team now have to penalize parts of its own company for running advertorials? Perhaps, and if so, it wouldn't be the first time. It's also another absurd chapter in Google's war on paid links. Google Says: Advertorials, Beware! After news came out yesterday that Google had apparently penalized Interflora for running advertorials -- and also reduced the PageRank values of many UK newspapers that carried these -- Google finally blogged a general warning against such practices. From its post: Please be wary if some [...]

After Penalizing Interflora & UK Newspapers, Google Warns Against Advertorials

Feb 22, 2013 at 3:40pm ET by Barry Schwartz

After penalizing Interflora and UK newspapers, Google has issued a stern warning that selling links on sites that pass PageRank can lead to a penalty in Google. Google specifically called this a "reminder," because in 2007, they clearly went on record that selling paid links can lead to a penalty. Google's Matt Cutts, the head of search spam, specifically called out the techniques believed to have resulted in the penalties leading to the PageRank drop of the UK newspapers and the ranking drop of the huge UK floral company Interflora. Cutts called out advertorials specifically in his warning [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: SEO | Google: Web Search | Top News

Google Dishes Out PageRank Penalties To UK Newspaper Web Sites For Selling Links

Feb 22, 2013 at 12:23pm ET by Barry Schwartz

Google has downgraded the Toolbar PageRank scores for several dozen UK operated newspapers and news sites today. It is believed the reason Google has downgraded their PageRank scores is because they were selling links on a massive scale. Google Penalizes Sites Selling Links As you may remember, in October 2007, Google went on record that selling links can hurt your PageRank and rankings in Google. Shortly later, Google went ahead dished out PageRank penalties to many US news sites including sites like the Washington Post, Forbes, Sun Times and dozens of others. This is nothing new. Goo [...]

Google Says No Comment On Why Interflora Was Penalized

Feb 22, 2013 at 8:52am ET by Barry Schwartz

The popular UK flower website Interflora seems to have been penalized in Google. They no longer rank for their key terms, such as [flowers], [flower delivery] and related terms -- nor do they rank for their own name [Interflora]. Here is a picture of the search results in Google UK for [Interflora]. As you can see, the number one ranking is not Interflora.co.uk; they are only coming up on the first page right now because they have paid for an AdWords listing. We asked Google to confirm if they have penalized Interflora for any reason, and Google would not comment. They said: We typi [...]

Search Engines More Trusted Than Social Media For News & Information [Study]

Feb 18, 2013 at 4:01pm ET by Matt McGee

When it comes to getting general news and information, consumers worldwide put as much trust in search engines as they do in traditional media -- and more in both than they do in social media. But, the numbers don't portray any single source as highly trusted, which suggests that consumers are at least trying to vet the accuracy and trustworthiness of what they find in today's information-saturated world. The data comes from the recently released 2013 Edelman Trust Barometer, the 13th annual global survey that uses data from "informed publics" -- college-educated individuals in upper inc [...]

Google Now Adds Movies, College Sports, Homescreen Widget

Feb 14, 2013 at 9:06am ET by Greg Sterling

Yesterday Google issued an update of its search app for Android. Among the modest changes were expanded Google Now content and functionality. For those devices running Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) or higher, which is now about 13.6 percent of handsets, Google Now now includes movie ratings from Rotten Tomatoes and movie passes from Fandango. (Apple's Siri recently added the ability to buy movie tickets through Fandango.) For those in the market for a home, real-estate listings from Zillow will now appear. College sports scores will soon show up as well. Finally, users can add a Google Now wi [...]

A “Cool” Google Rich Snippet For Snow Conditions

Feb 13, 2013 at 9:51am ET by Barry Schwartz

Patrick Altoft posted on Twitter about a new Google rich snippet designed for snow conditions. He searched for [geilo snow report] in Google and up came a rich snippet showing the snow conditions on that mountain. Here is a picture: As you can see, this rich snippet is pulled from the data on onthesnow.com. It contains the snow depth statistics, new snow stats within 24 and 72 hours, the conditions of the snow, the lifts currently open on the mountain, the trails currently open on the mountain and the current weather. It also shows the last time the data was updated on that web page. [...]

Green Ribbon, Minimum Wage, Climate Changes: Google Searches For The State Of The Union

Feb 13, 2013 at 9:32am ET by Barry Schwartz

Last night, President Obama gave his State of the Union address. During his address, Google was plotting how his speech impacted the types of search queries done on Google last night. Google was sharing statistics and charts throughout the night on their Google Politics Google+ page. Here are some of the interesting trends we saw last night on Google due to the State of the Union address. During the first 15 minutes of the speech, the top rising terms on Google were Green Ribbon, Eliot Engel, Supreme Court Justices, and Steven Chu. There was a 950% spike in interest on search terms [...]

Report: Mobile To Drive A Third Of Paid-Search Clicks By Year End

Feb 12, 2013 at 9:52am ET by Greg Sterling

Marin Software has released a report on paid click, CPC and conversion trends across the globe, with a focus on mobile. Called "The State of Mobile Search Advertising in the World," the 2012 data are drawn from search campaigns conducted in 13 geographies including the US, UK, China, Europe and Australia. Some of the findings, however, will effectively be rendered moot by Google's new Enhanced Campaigns, which lump together PC and tablet targeting and create new default pricing intended, in part, to equalize CPC prices across platforms. Source: Marin Software Marin forecasts in th [...]

Bill Gates On Google: “Bing Is The Better Product”

Feb 11, 2013 at 8:12pm ET by Matt McGee

[caption id="attachment_148275" align="alignright" width="201"] Photo by ToddABishop via Creative Commons.[/caption] It's been more than four years since Bill Gates worked full-time at Microsoft, but he's still promoting Bing, the company's 3+-year-old search engine. Gates, who's still serving as Microsoft's non-executive chairman but is focused full-time today on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, promoted Bing during an "Ask Me Anything" conversation today on Reddit. It happened when Reddit user "Fozzy420" asked Gates, "Do you guys really use Bing? I mean seriously..." That promp [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Google: Web Search | Microsoft: Bing | Top News

Financial Analyst Affirms Google’s $1 Billion In “Default Search” Payments To Apple

Feb 11, 2013 at 7:25pm ET by Greg Sterling

Last year the FTC asked Apple to disclose the terms of Google’s "default" search presence on iOS. This was part of the US government’s broader antitrust investigation of Google, which is now over. To my knowledge, none of that information made it out into the public eye. However, at approximately the same time, an analyst at Macquarie Capital estimated that Google was making $1.3 billion annually in paid search revenue from iOS devices. Macquarie speculated that Google returned about $1 billion of that to Apple as part of the agreement that made Google the default search engine on the S [...]

Google Now (And Nexus 4) Featured In Grammy Show Commercial

Feb 11, 2013 at 7:44am ET by Greg Sterling

Last night during the Grammy Awards show, Google bought airtime to promote its predictive search/assistant feature Google Now. The commercial, called "Live in the Now," also featured the sold-out Nexus 4. It now appears, however, that the popular handset will shortly be back in stock. The Apple-like ad shows people around the world getting useful and "just in time" information from Google Now. It highlights a range of use cases, from language translation in Paris to transportation information in LA -- all without conducting a search. Google Now is available on devices featuring the " [...]

Bug Turns Google “Anti-SafeSearch” On, Provides Porn Results

Feb 9, 2013 at 3:00am ET by Danny Sullivan

There's a strange bug on Google where search queries that should return no matches are instead turning Google into a porn search engine, almost as if an "anti-SafeSearch" feature is being enabled. Impossible Queries = Porn! The Verge highlighted a Quora post about the bug, where doing some searches for "contradictory" or impossible to solve queries brings back porn listings. For example, queries like the ones below currently do this (and be forewarned, you're going to get porn results at Google if you click on these links): -s "s 2" -3 "1 3" -4 "1 4" -title "title 4" Here [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Google: Web Search | Top News

Opinion: Why Google Should Crack Down Harder On The Mugshot Extortion Racket

Feb 6, 2013 at 12:03pm ET by Jonathan Hochman

Recently a friend contacted me because his daughter was in tears about her mugshot photo being posted on the Internet. She was arrested a few years ago, the matter was settled, and the arrest record was expunged. Nevertheless, her mugshot was prominently displayed on several sites whenever anybody Googled her name. Unbeknownst to him, trying to get that mugshot down took him into the Mugshot Zone, a murky world where sites are posting the shots in hopes of getting paid to remove them -- and Google provides the traffic that helps them along the way. Mugshots For Profit When somebody gets a [...]

Related Topics: Channel: Other | Features: Opinion | Google: Web Search

Has Google Overtaken Naver In South Korea?

Feb 6, 2013 at 9:43am ET by Greg Sterling

Since roughly 2006 Naver has been the leading search site in South Korea. Consistently Google has been unable to break through and -- according to various traffic estimates -- has less than 5 percent of the market there. That's as recently as Q4 of last year according to data I've seen. Mysteriously, however, StatCounter is now showing Google soundly defeating Naver, and having done so since February of last year. I'm not in the habit of checking the status of the Korean search market often so this is the first time I've seen the StatCounter chart. Everything I've seen and read shows [...]

A Year Later, Google’s Block Sites Feature Remains Blocked

Jan 25, 2013 at 1:11pm ET by Danny Sullivan

In 2011, Google rolled out a feature allowing searchers to block web sites they don't like from appearing in its search results, which drew great attention. That got dropped last year, when Search Plus Your World was launched last January. A year later, Google says there are no firm plans for it to return. Google's Blocked Sites Feature The block feature, which was released in March 2011, placed a small "block" link next to any result in Google's listings: Clicking on that link prevented any pages from that web site from appearing again in your results at Google. At the time, Googl [...]

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