You can narrow down your search by using so-called Boolean operators, which you type directly into the search field. The most important operators are listed down below:
| Explanation | Example | Search request | |
|---|---|---|---|
| AND-search | Connect individual search terms with the operator AND. Only if a website contains all terms, will it be listed in the search results. | You are looking for a hotel in Berlin. | Hotel AND Berlin |
| OR-search | Connect individual search terms with the operator OR. Only if a website contains at least one of the terms, will it be listed in the search results. | You are looking for an apartment or a hotel in Berlin. | Berlin (Apartment OR Hotel) |
| NOT-search | Substract the terms you wish to be excluded from the search by adding a minus sign in front of them. Only if a website does not contain the terms, will it be listed in the search results. | You are looking for a hotel in Berlin but do not want to stay in a motel. | Berlin Hotel –Motel |
| Phrase-search | If you are not looking for a single term but rather a phrase, you might want to put it in quotation marks. This way, only results matching exactly your phrase will be mentioned. | You are looinkg for the originator of a famous phrase. | „To be or not to be“ |
| search inside a website | If you are looking for a term on a specific website, add the operator site after your search term, followed by the URL of the website. This way, only results on this specific website will be listed. | You are looking for a specific DSL tariff by 1&1. | DSL tariff site:1und1.de (Important: No space between between „site:“ and the desired domain) |