# I wanna google like a pro. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 16, 2003, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-google-like-a-pro/161685 "2003-03-16T00:17:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-google-like-a-pro/161685/1 "2003-03-16T00:17:00Z")
How’s that for a title, Manny? This isn’t an ATMB, I hope. Is there a good site where I can learn to use google effectively? Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-google-like-a-pro/161685/2 "2003-03-16T00:22:38Z")
Ironically, a google search for **‘google search tips’** returns a substantial set of results… ---
**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-google-like-a-pro/161685/3 "2003-03-16T00:45:57Z")
Wow ‘barley eater’ meets ‘pea eater’. 😉 OK … I had nothing of value to add. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-google-like-a-pro/161685/4 "2003-03-16T01:04:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*Ironically, a google search for **‘google search tips’** returns a substantial set of results… \*\* Indeed it does. That’s wierd. ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-google-like-a-pro/161685/5 "2003-03-16T01:12:01Z")
Or, you could pull a Godel theorem and see what “Sites that Google Wouldn’t not return” would return 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-google-like-a-pro/161685/6 "2003-03-16T01:13:02Z")
I wonder if Google is opposed to people using their name as a verb. It would suck if they lost their copyright. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-google-like-a-pro/161685/7 "2003-03-16T01:16:48Z")
Erm… you know what I meant. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-google-like-a-pro/161685/8 "2003-03-16T01:28:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > \*\*Erm… you know what I meant. \*\* Well, er, no, I don’t. 😉 Anyway, Google has no control over the usage of the word itself. And, from **Trigonal Planar** ; > [@](#): > > Or, you could pull a Godel theorem and see what “Sites that Google Wouldn’t not return” would return Oh, yeah. I could do _that_. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-google-like-a-pro/161685/9 "2003-03-16T01:32:48Z")
Your search - “Sites that Google Wouldn’t not return” - did not match any documents. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-google-like-a-pro/161685/10 "2003-03-16T01:40:45Z")
There’s no secret. Just ask yourself [“What would Barney Do?”](http://www.unclefred.com/colorbook/bw/barney.html) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-google-like-a-pro/161685/11 "2003-03-16T01:46:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mangeorge \* > Well, er, no, I don’t. 😉 > Anyway, Google has no control over the usage of the word itself. What I meant was trademark, not copyright. And, though I’m not a lawyer, I believe they do have a certain amount of control. If some other search engine refers to itself as Google, I think they can sue for trademark violation. Of course, this could change if so many people start using the term Google to refer to any old search engine that they lose their trademark. There are not that many ways you can hurt a large corporation that easily, but this is one of them. It looks like they don’t want you using it as a verb:[ [Quote] ]([http://www.google.com/permissions/trademarks.html](http://www.google.com/permissions/trademarks.html))[ul][li]Use the trademark ONLY as an adjective, NEVER as a noun or verb, and NEVER in the plural or possessive form.[/ul][/li][/Quote] I’m not trying to be preachy, but since I care about this company, I’m going to try to stop doing it. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-google-like-a-pro/161685/12 "2003-03-16T02:02:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > \*\*I wonder if Google is opposed to people using their name as a verb. \*\* [Yes, they are.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=165670) ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-google-like-a-pro/161685/13 "2003-03-16T05:39:44Z")
Google, the corporation, took a word that already existed and made it their own. The word, goggle in it’s other form, was at one time used to mean “stare at” as if looking for something. It was the theme of a popular song, and the name of **Squink** ’s hero, Barney. But I do only use it as a verb when referring to the use of the Google search engine. How about Yahoo? _Do You Yahoo_ doesn’y seem to have harmed tham any. Don’t be silly, Google ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-google-like-a-pro/161685/14 "2003-03-16T06:16:20Z")
Well, not to offend, but I’ll bet they’ve put a lot more thought into this than you have, or they’ve at least consulted an expert who has. So it’s not a question of vanity; it’s a business measure. Lots of companies have to do it:[ > [@](#): > > ]([http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:Ul0llCNvm0UC:www.ncraonline.org/jcr/0102/0102\_lederer.htm+xerox+spends+dollars+trademark+protect&hl=en&ie=UTF-8](http://216.239.51.100/search?q=cache:Ul0llCNvm0UC:www.ncraonline.org/jcr/0102/0102_lederer.htm+xerox+spends+dollars+trademark+protect&hl=en&ie=UTF-8))Xerox Corporation spends more than $100,000 a year to persuade the public not to say or write xerox when they mean “photocopy.” And the name Xerox comes from the word xerography; that doesn’t make the trademark any less valid. ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-google-like-a-pro/161685/15 "2003-03-16T06:17:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mangeorge \* > **Google, the corporation, took a word that already existed and made it their own. The word, goggle in it’s other form, was at one time used to mean “stare at” as if looking for something.** They got their name from the word **Googol**. From [http://www.google.com/corporate/history.html](http://www.google.com/corporate/history.html) > [@](#): > > What Google means > > Google is a play on the word googol, which was coined by Milton Sirotta, nephew of American mathematician Edward Kasner, to refer to the number represented by the numeral 1 followed by 100 zeros. A googol is a very large number. There isn’t a googol of anything in the universe. Not stars, not dust particles, not atoms. Google’s use of the term reflects the company’s mission to organize the immense, seemingly infinite amount of information available on the web. ---
**Author:** ![prisoner6655321](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f8ce5/32.png) [@prisoner6655321](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/prisoner6655321)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-google-like-a-pro/161685/16 "2003-03-16T08:51:59Z")
Could a competing coporation legally call themselves “Googol?” I wonder if Google has the rights to that. > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Achernar_ > If some other search engine refers to itself as Google, I think they can sue for trademark violation. Of course, this could change if so many people start using the term Google to refer to any old search engine that they lose their trademark. There are not that many ways you can hurt a large corporation that easily, but this is one of them. Many call all soda pop “coke” but that doesn’t mean that some company could call themselves or anything they make Coke. ---
**Author:** ![Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Aslan\_of\_Narnia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aslan_of_Narnia)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-google-like-a-pro/161685/17 "2003-03-16T11:30:04Z")
[This should help.](http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&q=Mangeorge+is+wondering+how+to+properly+search+you.+Can+you+give+me+any+help+at+all%2C+google%3F&meta=) ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-google-like-a-pro/161685/18 "2003-03-16T14:35:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Joey G \* > \*\*They got their name from the word Googol. [COUGH!](http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2823407.stm) (You have to read down to the foot of that link to understand what I’m getting at…) ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-google-like-a-pro/161685/19 "2003-03-16T15:12:33Z")
Don’t bother me. I’m googling. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-google-like-a-pro/161685/20 "2003-03-16T16:05:02Z")
Didn’t Google’s logo used to be _different_? I seem to remember the double o’s looking like eyes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-wanna-google-like-a-pro/161685.md?page=2)