# Why do we have to wait 120 seconds between searches? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 7, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-wait-120-seconds-between-searches/563285 "2010-12-07T17:03:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-wait-120-seconds-between-searches/563285/1 "2010-12-07T17:03:49Z")
Hamster exhaustion? ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-wait-120-seconds-between-searches/563285/2 "2010-12-07T17:15:23Z")
[Last week’s thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=587914) [The current Pit thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=588311) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-wait-120-seconds-between-searches/563285/3 "2010-12-07T17:32:02Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > [Last week’s thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=587914) > [The current Pit thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=588311) Ah, thanks. I might have found those threads with a search, but… ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-wait-120-seconds-between-searches/563285/4 "2010-12-07T17:40:16Z")
Do a Google search: \ site:straightdope.com ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-wait-120-seconds-between-searches/563285/5 "2010-12-07T17:46:31Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > Do a Google search: > > \ site:straightdope.com I swap it around, and start with the “site:boards.straightdope.com” bit. The SDMB is the only site I search like that, so it auto-completes that text. Saves me some keystrokes. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2010, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-wait-120-seconds-between-searches/563285/6 "2010-12-07T17:49:14Z")
So they are more than 2 minutes apart. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-wait-120-seconds-between-searches/563285/7 "2010-12-08T03:59:04Z")
Thanks for the tips! ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2010, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-have-to-wait-120-seconds-between-searches/563285/8 "2010-12-08T04:54:39Z")
The top “sticky” thread in ATMB is entitled “FAQs - Please Read First - Rules, Guidelines, Etiquette, Technical Issues.” When you click on it, it will show you a list of FAQ pages. The “Technical Issues” page includes “[HOWTO: Search the SDMB using Google](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=11650034#post11650034).” It’s a great guide written by **alterego** that explains how to use the free bandwidth–and highly sophisticated search algorithms–at Google instead of wearing out the poor little hamsters at SDMB.