Something you need to know? Google it. The #GoogleMoLang campaign wants you to touch base with the updating-as-we-speak massive archive of online knowledge indexed by Google – and become better at it.
When you head over to this url – http://www.google.com.ph/campaigns/googlemolang/ – you’ll be enticed to take part in a choose-your-own adventure, where, now and again, the story-path you take tries to stump you with a problem you can solve only through Google Search.
That’s Google Search, gamified, and one of the sure allures is of course seeing familiar web-famous people acting out in skits/scenarios where, whenever a question arises, Google is but a few key strokes or types away as a remedy/salvation.
Comedic talent Mikey Bustos, Marco Ho or Bogart the Explorer and his manager Jako de Leon, restaurateur Erwan Heusaff, OPM band Sponge Cola, and heartthrob group Chicser teamed up with Google for #GoogleMoLang.
These celebrities (above) depend on scouring the web for content to both share with their audiences and to use as springboard for project ideas. For the rest of us, we’re just looking for a recipe to try out over the weekend, or where to buy cat food in the middle of the night, or where to get yema cake that’s not too far away from work.
There are eight different endings to your #GoogleMoLang adventure, so make sure to vary your choices.
Of course, search results are great – you have page after page of results containing your search words. But you can be better at it – get more precise results, filter out content you don’t need, and be overall happier with the experience.
Limited know-hows in online search are often frustrating when people can’t make sense of the results or can’t seem to find what they’re looking for.
Here are three VITAL tips:
- Search within a specific website. Use “site:” operator when searching. For example, when searching for Presidential Decrees, search “Presidential Decrees site:gov.ph.” The results will provide all searches related to it within the government site.
- Trim down results by file type. Scouring web results for a specific file is frustrating, especially if you forgot the exact title of the filename. Use the search operator “filetype:” followed by the file extension. For example, when searching for population data in Excel format, search “population Philippines filetype:xls” and all search results in Excel format will appear.
- Utilize +, -, and quotations when searching. Add and exclude words, as well as search for the exact phrase using search operators +, -, and “”, respectively. For example, if you want to search for previous Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summits but not the 2015 summit in Albay, search for “APEC “summit” -Philippines.” The results will contain the term APEC summit but not with the term “Philippines.”
And by the way, Google search is also available via the Google Search App for iOS, Android, and Chrome browser for computers.
Above: the LG G3.
The #GoogleMoLang campaign aims to deepen our awareness of and practice with Google Search. You could say that, as with any story, the act of Google Searching has a beginning (information you’re curious about), a middle (you doing a Google search), and an end (you found the info).
