Google + Search Command Now Obsolete [Fond of Using the "Plus" Search Command in Google for Exact Phrase Matches? You'll Need to Use Quotation Marks Now]

Posted on TFTS by J. Angelo Racoma on Monday, 24. October 2011 under: Internet Highlights, Social Tech, xFeatured

Google has a whole set of search commands that advanced users can add to words and phrases to narrow down search results. But while the “+” operator has been in place since Google started, the search company has now rendered the command obsolete.

Google search commands let users narrow down searches to get the exact and specific matches needed. These include quotation marks, plus, minus, AND, OR, among others. These also include the insite:, link:, define: and other terms. For instance, the OR command will make sure both terms are searched. Using quotation marks within phrases or words will tell Google to search the terms exactly as you type them.

Using the minus sign or “-” will tell Google to exclude the terms or phrases (within quotes) so that you can take out irrelevant words or results that contain extraneous words you don’t like. Previously, though, you can also add the plus sign or “+” to denote that you want Google to search with those terms exactly. But now Google has deprecated the plus sign, and asks users to key in quotation marks instead.

A Google employee, Kelly F, posted on the Google Search Forum explaining the change, but not quite telling everyone why Google implemented the change in commands.

We’ve made the ways you can tell Google exactly what you want more consistent by expanding the functionality of the quotation marks operator. In addition to using this operator to search for an exact phrase, you can now add quotation marks around a single word to tell Google to match that word precisely. So, if in the past you would have searched for [magazine +latina], you should now search for [magazine "latina"].

Search users have complained against the change, saying they have been used to using + in search for many years now, and that this command is actually more intuitive than using quotation marks. Colt45ws says:

Ive used the boolean “+” operator for as long as I can remember. It [i]s ingrained in my search methodology. It aggravates me every time I make a search then have to turn around and adjust the search to current standards.

Google expounds on the use of double quotes in the Search help page.

[S]ometimes Google helps out a little too much and gives you a synonym when you don’t really want it. By putting double quotes around a single word, you are telling Google to match that word precisely as you typed it.

While no other explanation has been made, it seems that Google is implementing the adjustment to avoid confusion with its Google+ social network, or perhaps to make it easier to find Google+ related results, given that the plus operator previously conflicted with the Google+ name. For instance, Search Engine Land says that you cannot search for the +1 term before, but now you can find results using “+1″ which will likely benefit sites that use or discuss +1 buttons.

Whatever the reason behind the change, Google users will now have to exert a bit more effort typing in more keystrokes.