Searching for Information
Another highly useful way to use Google+ as an information source is to use its built-in search functionality. You can use this search feature to create custom news feeds and save them to the left-hand column for easy access.
This great Google+ feature becomes almost like a personalized version of Google News (or perhaps similar in function, if you’ve used it, to Google Reader).
Start by typing a search term into the Search Google+ text box at the top of the screen. You can search for vague topics like technology, fashion, or football, or more specific subjects like robotics or genetics. You can search for specific stories that are happening in the news, such as Egypt protests, or new products you’re interested in, like iPhone 5. In fact, you can search for just about anything you find interesting. Press Enter or Return to perform the Google+ search.
The results of your search appear in the Stream, as shown in Figure 9-5. As you look at the Stream, new stories appear at the top, which most of the time is fine, but if you’re searching for a popular topic, it can get distracting. You can stop Google+ from adding new stories to the Stream by clicking the Pause icon in the Stream. Click Play if you want to resume live updating.
Narrowing your search
By default, Google+ includes posts from all of Google+ and articles from the wider Internet (which Google+ refers to as Sparks). You can focus on different areas using the two drop-down lists below the search term. You can choose from the following:
+ Everything
+ People and pages
+ Google+ posts
+ Sparks
+ Hangouts
FIGURE 9-5 Searching for news.
If you’re using Everything, Google+ posts, or Hangouts, a second drop-down list enables you to narrow the search:
+ From everyone
+ From your circles
+ From you
Underneath the Everything, From everyone, and From Everywhere narrowing functions are two further options (as shown in Figure 9-6):
+ Most recent. The most recent items matching the search term appear first.
+ Best of. The highest trending or most popular posts and Sparks top the list.
Use these options to get a variety of different search results in the Stream.
FIGURE 9-6 Narrowing your search.
Saving searches
You can save a search term for quick access. Click Save this search and it appears under What’s hot in the left-hand column (as shown Figure 9-7). Now when you want to search for posts on that search term, just click it in the left-hand column and it is entered automatically into the search text box.
FIGURE 9-7 Saved searches in the left-hand column.
To remove a search term from the left-hand column, hover your mouse over it and click the X icon that appears.
If I Save a Search, Does it Save the Options? Going to a saved search always takes you back to the default Everything and From everyone options, even if you’ve saved the search term using different settings.
Trending information
One thing that Google+ has integrated into Search is Trends. Whenever you search for a news story, you see Trends appear in the right-hand column, as shown in Figure 9-8. These Trends are topics that people are searching for in Google+ at that moment. Click a trending topic to automatically use that as a search term.
FIGURE 9-7 Saved searches in the left-hand column.
Is This the Same as Google Trends? No. Google also has a product called Google Trends (www.google.com/trends) that shows trending topics from its search engine. Google Trends displays different results.