Google Drops Support For Single Double Quote Search Shortcut

Jul 5, 2010 - 8:29 am 6 by
Filed Under Google

In the past, if you searched in Google for an exact phrase you only had to start the phrase off with a double quote to achieve that result.

For example a search for ["query goes here] would be the same as ["query goes here"]. That is no longer the case.

Try it yourself by searching for ["It was a big turning point] vs. ["It was a big turning point"]. The results are different. Three days ago, they would have been the same.

Inout spotted this and also posted a thread on it at Google Blogoscoped Forums where one searcher said, "That's a pain. I used to use that a lot. Even though it was one character it felt like it was saving me a lot of time (I guess because it was two key presses)."

Forum discussion at Google Blogoscoped Forums.

 

Popular Categories

The Pulse of the search community

Search Video Recaps

 
Video Details More Videos Subscribe to Videos

Most Recent Articles

Search Forum Recap

Daily Search Forum Recap: January 22, 2026

Jan 22, 2026 - 10:00 am
Google Ads

Google Ads Posts New Call & Messaging Ads Terms

Jan 22, 2026 - 7:51 am
Apple Intelligence

Apple Releasing Two New Siri; iOS 26.4 & iOS 27 (Campos, Rave & Fizz)

Jan 22, 2026 - 7:41 am
Other Search Engines

OpenAI To Charge Based On Ad View Impressions, Not Clicks

Jan 22, 2026 - 7:31 am
Google

Google Search Makes Recipe Results More Publisher Friendly

Jan 22, 2026 - 7:21 am
Google Search Engine Optimization

New GoogleBot: Google Messages

Jan 22, 2026 - 7:11 am
 
Previous Story: Breaking: Yahoo Now Testing Bing's Search Algorithm & Results?