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Welcome to 'The basics of searching with Google' video course. In this video, you'll learn how to use Google to search for useful things on the internet. You can begin a basic search from the Google home page at google.com. This has a main search bar in the middle of the screen. There are also controls for voice search and image search on the right. These look like a microphone and a camera. A circle in the top-right corner of the page shows your initial or profile picture if you are signed into Google, and a simple human shape if you are not signed in.
To start a search, click in the main search bar. Type 'history of trains', and then press Enter. A page of search results appears. You might see an AI Overview at the top of the results, or you might just see a list. You can scroll the list and click on any result. to visit a web page with more information. To return to your search results, click the browser's Back button at the top-left of the screen.
An AI Overview is a quick summary of a topic or question. AI is experimental, however, and can make mistakes, so be sure to verify the information provided. You might have found the results of that search a bit too general. Let's try searching again, but this time, we'll use more words. Google calls these search terms or search phrases. You can search again by using the search bar at the top of the search results. Click in the search bar, and add 'Victorian' to your original search term, so that it reads, 'history of Victorian trains'. Then press Enter.
Some new results will appear, and will be about trains in the state of Victoria. If you scroll the screen, you can see some questions under the heading, 'People also ask'. Click the down arrow next to the question to see a preview of the search result. If you want to find out more, click the link below to visit the web page. Some search results may be in the form of paid advertisements. They usually appear at the top of the search results page, and are marked as sponsored. If you really wanted to know about trains in the Victorian era, not the state of Victoria, you can make your search query more specific.
First, click the cross at the right of the search bar to clear the previous search term. Now, type in 'history of trains in the Victorian era'. Press Enter to start the search. Instead of Australian results, you will see results from the National Archives in the UK, and a different set of 'People also ask' questions. You can try adding more words or detail to your search to make the results more specific. Try to keep your search to a single sentence, however, as Google can give less helpful results for overly long search phrases. If your computer or device has a microphone, you can perform these same searches using your voice.
Next to the search bar, look for the microphone icon and click on it. A pop up might appear on the left asking permission to use your computer's microphone. 'Allow this time' will let you use Google Voice Search for this search only. For this demonstration, however, we'll click 'Allow while visiting the site' to enable voice for future searches too.
When you see the larger microphone appear, speak clearly: "Should I get a budgerigar?". Your search terms will appear as text on the screen, followed by a page of search results. Granting microphone access, means a website can potentially record your audio, while you are on the page. If you have any concerns, you can turn off voice search in Settings.
You've learned the basics of searching the internet using Google, and how to make a search more specific by adding words or search terms. If you're unsure about any steps, you can rewind the video or click the chapter headings to jump to the start of a chapter. If you are ready to move on, there are many other courses to explore on Be Connected.