Data Journalism Crash Course #5: Advanced Data Search — Google
By: Deborah M.
Tags: Data Journalism, Journalism, Google, Data Science, Technology

Image by the author

Google is not limited to the search engine, and the search engine is not limited to simple search. Many users do not take advantage of the full potential of Google applications, and for journalists, it is particularly important to know how to use them well.

Search filters

In a simple Google search, you can filter results by country, language, publication date, and city. It is also possible to choose between displaying all available results or just pages that have been visited previously, unvisited pages, and literal results. This action can display pages with terms exactly as they were typed, with all the words together and in the same order.

Advanced search and search operators

The Google search engine has search operators that can refine your search efficiently and practically. Here are some examples:

Search for exact word or phrase

Use quotation marks: “Every idea needs a Medium” shows only results that contain exactly this sentence, not results that contain the four words used at different points on the page.

Delete a word

Add a negative sign (-): idea -medium shows results that address products other than Medium.

Search on a single website or domain

Search by site: medium.com only shows results that are on pages hosted on the Medium site.

Search files

Search by filetype: xls shows only results contained in spreadsheets of Xls format.

Related Sites

Searching for related: medium.com shows other websites of Vice itself, in addition to some that work with subjects related to the one she addresses.

Related doesn’t just work with websites. You can also search for terms and find other sites that talk about a topic that interests you.

Terms within the body of the text

Forget the title of the article: with this search, no matter the main theme of the site, Google will search focused on the “inside” of the content.

To do this, type intext: and, after the colon, type the keywords, as in the following example:

intext: big data for beginners

Terms in one-page titles

Searching for the title: medium shows only results contained in titles.

This is a simple way to quickly find out about content that already exists on the internet before producing your own or to analyze how competing content is on the same subject as your article.

See all the Google search tricks here. Some can be done using Google’s advanced search, without the need to memorize operators or consult the help page.

Search for images

Google Image Search — Image by the author

Google’s image search can filter results by image dimensions, color, type (drawing or photo, for example), and publication date. When selecting a result, the user has the option to visit the image source website and obtain more information about it.

You can also use an image as a search term. When uploading an image to Google Images, the result can be returned with a suggestion for the image name, pages containing that image, similar images, and the same image with other dimensions. The only condition is that the image already exists on a website. It is possible to add a keyword next to the image sent to make the search easier. Search operators also work on this search.

To upload an image to Google Images, simply click on the photo camera icon inside the search box and upload an image from your computer or paste the address of a photo online.

Google Trends — Image by Google

Google Trends allows you to assess the popularity of a term over time and compare it to the popularity of other terms, and you can also filter results by country, date, category, and Google product (Images or YouTube, for example).

Besides, Google Trends highlights the top terms searched on Google over a given period.

Google Public Data — Image by Google

The little-known Google Public Data presents in the form of graphs important statistics from the database of large institutions, such as the World Bank and Eurostat. This information can be compared and analyzed using the various filters offered by the application.

Google Crisis Response — Image by Google

An initiative that gathers maps created from data on disaster situations, making information more accessible.

Google Earth — Image by Google

Google Earth is one of Google’s most famous tools, with animated satellite imagery in three dimensions. This functionality ends up creating a more interactive experience than Google Maps, especially in the paid version, Google Earth Pro.

Satellites take around 14 days to take pictures of the entire planet.

Google Street View — Image by Google

Google Street View offers 360 degree panoramic views horizontally and 290 vertically. This feature of Google Maps and Google Earth, has been available since August 2007.

Street View is often being used in “before and after” situations when a location undergoes a significant change.

Since 2012, Google has also used Trekker, a kind of high-tech backpack with a 360-degree camera. With the equipment it is possible to get images of where cars cannot go, such as inside museums, theme parks that are difficult to access and even cemeteries.

Through a Trekker loan program, in 2013, volunteers were able to start to collaborate with images for Street View. Cameras were borrowed so that each person could collect 360-degree images of the places they know well. Currently, anyone can help Google Street View, whether collaborating with normal photos or panoramic photos taken by the smartphone.

With the use of Trekker, Google was able to register places where it was not previously thought to map. From cemeteries around the world, to museums in Latin America, through the Grand Canyon, through the Amazon rainforest, through deserts and down to the bottom of the sea. Through Street View it is also possible to “visit” famous movie sets, the White House, a submarine and even CERN. The feature allows anyone to experience famous places on the planet without leaving their home.

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