Reverse image search

Using Google’s search engine is a part of our everyday tech life and plays a vital role in helping us navigate the worldwide web.

Each second, Google processes about 40,000 search queries which is more than 3.5 billion searches a day or 1.2 trillion searches a year.

Just over 90 per cent of all web searches are done through Google with about 20 per cent of those only searching for a photo.

Here are 10 tips to make it easier to quickly find what you’re looking for.

Search a website

This is one I use all the time. Putting ‘‘site:’’ in front of a web address followed by your search term makes Google only look for results on that particular website.

For example: ‘‘site:stuff.co.nz/ technology smartwatches’’ will only produce results Stuff’s tech section about smartwatches.

Most websites don’t have very good search engines and even fewer allow you to filter results. This trick lets you use the search power of Google to make it easier to find what you need.

The Tools button

When you type in a search you get a list of results and above those are eight buttons.

The one on the far right is called Tools which lets you refine the results according to date – past hour, past week, past month or past year.

You can also use this button to restrict the searches to just New Zealand-based websites.

Use quotes

This is the most simple trick. Using quotation marks around search terms will mean only pages with the same words in the same order will be shown.

This is particularly good for finding out who said a quote, such as ‘‘it is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves’’ (Sir Edmund Hillary) or if you’re trying to find information about a person. Google has the power to use an image you upload to find similar photos. For example, if you upload an image of Auckland’s Sky Tower, Google has the ability to recognise it and give you information about it. It can also work on faces, too. To use this feature, you need to go to the Google Images search page which can be accessed by clicking on ‘‘images’’ in the top right corner of the search homepage.

Then click on the camera in the search bar to upload your image.

Each second Google processes about 40,000 search queries which is more than 3.5 billion searches a day or 1.2 trillion searches a year. Google has the power to use an image you upload to find similar photos.

If you have a favourite site you like to visit and want to see others that are similar then you can use the word "related".