Google Hacking for Penetration Testers
Third Edition
Johnny Long
Bill Gardner
Justin Brown
Table of Contents
Copyright
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Chapter 1
Google Search Basics
Abstract
This chapter covers the basis of Googles Web interface, the different and special use search functions such as Video, Maps, etc., and how to do basic searches.
Keywords
Google Web interface
types of searches
Google Maps
Google News
YouTube
Gmail
More tabs
searching
Boolean
special characters
Google Warnings
search reduction
Google URLs
Googles advance search parameters
Introduction
Googles Web interface is unmistakable. It is clean and simple. Its look and feel is copyright-protected for good reason. What most people fail to realize is that the interface is also extremely powerful. Throughout this book, we will see how you can use Google to uncover truly amazing things. However, as with most things in life, before you can run, you must learn to walk.
This chapter takes a look at the basics of Google searching. We begin by exploring the powerful Web-based interface that has made Google a household word. Even the most advanced Google users still rely on the Web-based interface for the majority of their day-to-day queries. Once we understand how to navigate and interpret the results from the various interfaces, we will explore basic search techniques.
Understanding basic search techniques will help us build a firm foundation on which to base more advanced queries. You will learn how to properly use the Boolean operators (AND, NOT, and OR), as well as explore the power and flexibility of grouping searches. You will also learn Googles unique implementation of several different wildcard characters. Finally, you will learn the syntax of Googles Uniform Resource Locator (URL) structure.
Learning the ins and outs of the Google URL structure will give you access to greater speed and flexibility when submitting a series of related Google searches. We will see that the Google URL structure provides excellent shorthand for exchanging interesting searches with friends and colleagues.
Exploring Googles web-based interface
Googles Web Search Page
The main Google Web page, shown in . The interface is known for its clean lines, pleasingly uncluttered presentation and user-friendly layout.
Figure 1.1
Although the interface might seem relatively featureless at first glance, we will see that many different search functions can be performed right from the first page.
As shown in , theres only one place to type. This is the search field. In order to ask Google a question or query, you simply type what youre looking for, then either press Enter (if your browser supports it), or click the Google Search button to be taken to the results page for your query.
Google Web Results Page
After Google processes a search query, it displays a results page. This page lists the results of your search and provides links to the Web pages that contain your search text. The top part of the search result page mimics the main Web search page. Notice the Images, Video, News, Maps, and Gmail links at the top of the page. By clicking these links from a search page, you automatically resubmit your search as another type of search without having to retype your query.
The results line shows which results are displayed (110, in this case), the approximate total number of matches (here, over 8 million), the search query itself (including links to dictionary lookups of individual words), and the amount of time the query took to execute.
The speed of the query is often overlooked, but it is quite impressive. Even large queries resulting in millions of hits are returned within a fraction of a second. For each entry on the results page, Google lists the name of the site. This is followed by a summary of the site, usually with the first few lines of content, the URL of the page that matched, the size and date the page was last crawled, a cached link that shows the page as it appeared when Google last crawled it, and a link to pages with similar content. If the result page is written in a language other than the default language, and Google supports the translation from that language to the default that is set in the preferences screen, a link titled Translate this page will appear, allowing you to read an approximation of that page in your own language (see ).