Google Search
January 3, 2005 1:02 PM Subscribe
Can you search Google with terms that include special characters (10%, #1, etc.)? Even in quotations, Google seems to drop the characters it doesn't like.
I've tried putting queries in and out of quotes, escaping (&, &x0034) the special characters, searching for help on using Google, Search Engine Watch and nothing has worked. Hope me AskMe!
I've tried putting queries in and out of quotes, escaping (&, &x0034) the special characters, searching for help on using Google, Search Engine Watch and nothing has worked. Hope me AskMe!
Basicly, no. I think this was asked a while back too, and while there are ofcourse sometimes workarounds for specific cases by deducing what words would surround the symbols, you cannot search for symbols with google.
posted by fvw at 1:37 PM on January 3, 2005
posted by fvw at 1:37 PM on January 3, 2005
Best answer: Google ignores some punctuation and special characters, including , . ; ? [ ] ( ) @ / #.
However that link does also say that it "knows" certain terms like C++ which would ordinarily be using two of Google's operator characters as part of its name. Google also seems to "know" when the @ sign is used as part of an email address because I get different results searching for
posted by jessamyn at 1:39 PM on January 3, 2005
However that link does also say that it "knows" certain terms like C++ which would ordinarily be using two of Google's operator characters as part of its name. Google also seems to "know" when the @ sign is used as part of an email address because I get different results searching for
jessamyn@gmail.com than I do for jessamyn%gmail.com. Most, though by no means all, search engines basically strip all punctuation from your query. This came up on Slashdot a while ago and they have some more examples of what works and what doesn't in that thread.posted by jessamyn at 1:39 PM on January 3, 2005
Sorry, no solution. I know I've had the same problem when searching for software called "Astro*Talk". I think they named it pre-google.
posted by ModestyBCatt at 2:26 AM on January 4, 2005
posted by ModestyBCatt at 2:26 AM on January 4, 2005
I've had the same problem when searching for software called "Astro*Talk".
If you google for "Astro Talk" software, you'll get a lot of hits on Astro*Talk. Apparently Google treats the asterisk as if it were a space.
posted by WestCoaster at 9:33 AM on January 4, 2005
If you google for "Astro Talk" software, you'll get a lot of hits on Astro*Talk. Apparently Google treats the asterisk as if it were a space.
posted by WestCoaster at 9:33 AM on January 4, 2005
I asked a similar question here. Didn't have much luck.
posted by callmejay at 10:55 AM on January 5, 2005
posted by callmejay at 10:55 AM on January 5, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by WestCoaster at 1:26 PM on January 3, 2005