Earlier this year Google launched a side panel called “Search Options” which allows users to refine their search results. Yesterday they expanded the available options to include a number of new filters.

google-search-optionsNow when you perform a Google search, but clicking the “show options” link at the top left, you can filter your results with the following options:

Past Hour & Specific Date Range
This option will allow you to filter results based on a specific time period. Say you are researching some current events, by selecting the “past hour” you will remove any similar news stories from the past and be left with the freshest information at your fingertips. For instance, say you want information on the latest tsunami, a regular search for “tsunami” displays Wikipedia’s definition of the word, and some info of the 2004 disaster, but by clicking “past 24 hours” the search results are entirely related to the events of the past few days.

More Shopping Sites & Fewer Shopping Sites
This tool is handy whether you are doing market research for a product or looking to actually order it. By increasing the number of shopping sites displayed, you can more easily locate an online retailer to purchase from; decreasing will show you more review and informational websites.

Visited Pages & Not Yet Visited
This is relatively self explanatory – This filter will weed out all pages you have either seen, or not seen. This is particularly helpful if you are trying to find a site you have visited in the past. Note: This feature only works when logged into your Google Account with Web History enabled.

Books, Blogs, & News
If you only want to see results from Blogs, News or Book sites, then these options are for you.

These 9 new options were created to help make the end search experience easier. If you are searching for something very specific, consider giving some of these a try to weed out the stuff you are not interested in.