Every word matters. Generally, all the words you put in the query will be used in the search.
Search is not case sensitive. A search for [new york times] is the same as a search for [New York Times].
Punctuation is mostly ignored, though there are some exceptions.
Tips for Better Searches
Keep it simple. Many queries won't require advanced operators or unusual syntax.
Examples:
Looking for a particular company: Enter its name, or as much of its name as you can recall.
Looking for a particular concept, place, or product: Start with its name.
Looking for a pizza restaurant: Enter pizza and the name of your town or your zip code.
Consider what terms are likely to appear on the page you're looking for. Search with those words.
A search engine is not a human, it is a program that matches the words you give to pages on the web.
Examples:
Looking for medical information: Instead of using [my head hurts], use [headache].
Answering the question [in what country are bats considered an omen of good luck?]: Though this question is clear to most people, a source that answers the question may not use those words. Instead, search for [bats are considered good luck in] or even just [bats good luck]. These are words that the page will probably include.
Describe what you need with as few terms as possible.
The goal of each word in a query is to focus it further. Since all words are used, each additional word limits the results.
If you limit the search too much, you will miss a lot of useful information.
if you start with fewer keywords and don't get what you need, the results will usually give you a good indication of what additional words are needed to refine your results. Example:[weather cancun] is likely to give better results than the longer [weather report for cancun mexico].
Choose descriptive words.
The more unique the word, the more likely you are to get relevant results.
Even if the word has the correct meaning but it is not the one most people use, it may not match the pages you need.
Words that are not very descriptive cna usually be omitted (e.g., 'document,' 'website,' 'company,' or 'info'). Example:[celebrity ringtones] is more descriptive and specific than [celebrity sounds].