How To Use Minus Sign in a Google Search

Is your search keyword in Google too broad? Do you simply want to focus on the results that are directly associated or related to your topic? Do you wish to exclude the unnecessary results to be generated by the search engine? Then, consider using the minus sign operator. It can let you eliminate results from a particular keyword while looking for a broad keyword.

Here are the steps on how you can use the minus sign in your next Google search:

* Go online and access the Google official homepage.
* Think about your search keywords. Then, promptly type them in the search box. For example, you plan to look for sports aside from basketball, then, you can use the minus sign operator. First, simply type in the word “sports”. After that, leave a blank space before you type in the minus sign. Eventually, you can type in the word “basketball”. So, if you have followed the steps to the tee, your keywords should have been typed like this: “sports –basketball”.
* The minus sign operator is quite handy, especially when you have to look for technical information. For example, you have searched for “new computer software” and the search results included tons of merchants who sell “computer software”. So, if you wish to get rid of those merchants in your next search, just type in “new computer software –merchants”. When the search results have been yielded, expect the list to better.
* Bear in mind that using the minus sign operator can turn out to be tricky. If you use it with numbers, it automatically functions like the basic subtraction operator in mathematics. For example, you have typed in “20” and then, space, the minus sign operator, and “9” or “20 – 9”. When you hit the search engine, the search box is going to yield “11” as a result. That is basically “20 – 9 = 11”.
* You have to avoid putting or leaving a space after the minus sign operator. However, you should always account for the space between your search keyword and your minus sign operator. If you get to include a space right between the minus sign operator and your keyword that you intend to exclude, you are going to end up with search results for that particular keyword only. So, if you have typed in “sports –basketball”, you can expect to see search results for sport events aside from basketball. On the other hand, if you have indicated “sports – basketball”, all the search results are directly linked or associated to basketball as a sport event.
* By the way, if you are going to type in “Google –search”, you can easily access the listing of other services by Google, except its more popular search engine.
* Find the search button and then, hit return. In a few seconds, Google is going to list or enumerate the search results.


So, if you intend to exclude a certain term or keyword that repeatedly appears in the search results even though it is entirely unrelated to your topic, rely on using the minus sign operator. It automatically informs Google to exclude that term or keyword in your next search.