There are two threads at Google Web Search Help where there are two search suggestions that Google has listened to as a possible addition to Google's advanced search.
The first thread talks about how some searchers want a NEAR operator to search for phrases on web pages, but to specific that those pages be near each other. Specifically, the searcher said:
I would like Google to be able to check for relevance based on physical proximity of words to each other - invariably when I search for a phrtase containing several key words, most results I get have at least one of the key words located far away from the others on that website & thus the result is usually not relevant to the concept I am searching for, which is described using ALL key words TOGETHER.
Googler, Jem said:
There isn't a NEAR operator in Google, so it's true that this exact kind of search isn't available. I'll kick the idea around with the team, though. In the meantime, I think the * (wildcard) operator will be helpful. It does dictate word order, but you could try a couple searches with different orders.
There is also a image search suggestion where someone wants the ability to exclude certain image filters. Currently there are filters to filter image filters for news, face, clip art, line drawings and photos, but no way to say, I want to exclude any of those specific types. For example, I want all images for a query except for images that are faces. Googler, Jem said:
Thanks for the post, Eric. There isn't actually way to exclude faces, but I like the idea -- I'm going to share this with the team :)
Forum discussion at Google Web Search Help.
