In the race to be the dominant Web portal, Internet search engines are constantly growing smarter. Although outward appearances may not change much, the algorithms churning behind the scenes are getting better at predicting what users want and delivering answers almost instantly.
Google recently unveiled new tools for its search-results pages to help users further refine their queries. But there’s plenty of power built into the search box on the main page. Most users will find what they’re looking for with just a basic query on a search page. But there are some lesser-known tricks to help consumers maximize the search function.
Most of the shortcuts below also are available on Microsoft’s Bing and Yahoo Search. Those portals have their own unique features: typing in a company name such as “Amazon” on Bing spits out a toll-free customer-service number, for example, and entering “gas” and a ZIP code on Yahoo calls up a list of local gas prices.
Still, Google remains dominant in search. According to Experian Hitwise, Google captured 71 percent of all U.S. searches in April, compared with 15 percent for Yahoo and 9 percent for Bing.
Here are some quick tips to make searching easier:
* Packages: Enter a tracking number to get a direct link to the page listing a shipment’s status. It works with the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx and UPS.
* Show times: Enter a movie title and ZIP code to see nearest theaters and times. Clicking on the name of the theater will return complete listings for that location, while clicking on a movie time leads to a Fandango site to purchase tickets if online sales are available.
* lights: Enter an airline and flight number to track its status.
* Conversions: Calculate the number of teaspoons in a fluid ounce, or try something more obscure like pascals to pounds per…