Better Web Search Coach

Search like a librarian

• Use quotes for exact phrases: "best Italian restaurant in Pittsburgh"
• Add a dash to exclude: garden hose -metal
• Search a specific site: site:cdc.gov flu vaccine
• File type: medication list filetype:pdf
• Time-filter: click "Tools" → "Past year" / "Past month".
• Image search: Google Images. Right-click any photo → "Search Google for image" to find where else it appears (great for spotting fake profile pictures).
• Add "Reddit" to the end of any product question — real user opinions instead of paid review farms.

Pick a privacy-friendly engine

• DuckDuckGo — doesn\'t track your searches. Same web results. Make it your default.
• Startpage — gives you Google results without tracking.
• Brave Search — independent, privacy-friendly.
• Google — most accurate but tracks everything. Use signed-out for privacy.
• Bing / Microsoft Copilot — strong AI assistant.
• Perplexity AI — returns answers with citations. Great for research.
• ChatGPT Search — talkative, with sources.

Evaluating what you find

• Who wrote this? — bio, credentials. Beware "wellness coach" giving medical advice.
• What\'s the .domain? — .gov and .edu most reliable. .com varies wildly.
• Date — old article on rapidly-changing topic (medications, tech) can be wrong.
• Sources — does it cite real studies or just say "research shows"?
• Cross-check — search the same question on 2-3 different sites. Consensus is reassuring.
• Check Snopes, FactCheck.org, PolitiFact for "did you hear..." claims.
• AllSides.com — labels news outlets Left/Center/Right.
• Ground News — same headline reported by multiple outlets side-by-side.

Avoid clicking the first thing

First 1-3 results are usually ads, marked "Sponsored". Skip them — you\'ll often pay more (the advertiser is paying for the click). Real organic results start below.

For shopping: search the product name, then go DIRECTLY to the manufacturer\'s website. Skip ads pretending to be the brand.