Instead of sitting around staring at Google News and updating your search results every few minutes to find the latest news, you can turn on Google Alerts. When Google gets new search results that match the alerts you entered, Google Alerts will send those search results to your email account. You can track published material online by entering a number of specific keywords. You can also track newspaper articles, blog posts or anything else published online.
Step
Step 1. Visit the Google Alerts page
In your browser, enter the address https://www.google.com/alerts, or simply click on the link.
Step 2. Enter the thing you want to monitor in the search box
You'll see a summary of the types of search results found at the bottom of the search box. If the results aren't what you wanted, try some of these search tips.
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Using without quotes:
Use quotation marks to search for entire phrases rather than individual words. For example, if you want to search for a movie called The Boy in the House, include quotation marks. Make sure the order of the words in the quotation marks is correct. If you use quotation marks, the search results you get will include only those phrases exactly like that.
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Using the subtraction symbol:
Use the subtraction symbol to exclude specific words from your search. This is especially helpful when you need to remove a word from a term that has multiple meanings. If you want to receive alerts about the Puma clothing brand, and not the Puma animal, enter
-animal
to issue all search results regarding the puma animal.
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If you want to output search results from a specific website, enter
-site: website address
- .
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Using the star symbol:
Use asterisks instead of words you don't know. For example, if you wanted to search for what a city is currently doing to its residents, you could enter something like this in the search:
"Jakarta * residents"
. Any phrase that starts with the word Jakarta and ends with the word resident will be caught.
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Using the OR word:
Use the word OR to get search results containing any of the words you are looking for. For example, if you search, Australian OR containment OR system, you'll get search results with pages that may only contain one of the words you're looking for.
Step 3. Select the information source you want
Click the link Show options at the bottom of the search box. Then click the drop-down menu to the right of the option Source.
You can enter as many options as you like by clicking on them. A check mark will appear when you click on the selected sources.
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Automatic:
This option will give you the best search results, regardless of the source.
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Blogs:
This option will only capture search results from blogs. Blogs aren't always the best source for reliable information, but they can be helpful if you want to find opinions on a topic from online communities.
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News:
This option will return search results from websites such as the New York Times and Washington Post. This is a great choice of resources to include if you want to keep track of an ongoing story or event.
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Web:
This option will return search results from across websites, such as forums and other online communities.
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Videos:
This option will capture search results in the form of videos.
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Books:
This option will list all new books related to your search term. You may get fewer search results because book launches are not as common as other sources.
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Discussions:
This option will return search results from forums and other online communities.
- Finance This option will net search results in the field of finance. This can be a very useful resource if you are trying to monitor the performance of a product or company in the market.
Step 4. Choose how often you want to receive alerts
Click the link Show options at the bottom of the search box. Then click the drop-down menu to the right of the option How often.
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As-it-happens:
Google will send alerts to your email address with new material related to your search terms just as the material appears. This option is especially useful if you need to get the latest news about an ongoing story or event. However, this option will result in a large number of emails being sent to your account.
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At most once a day:
Google will send you alerts with a summary of the latest material related to your search words once a day. If your search term isn't very clear and there isn't much happening about it, there may be times when you won't receive alerts.
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At most once a week:
Google will send you an alert with a summary of new material related to your search term once a week. This is a good choice if your search terms are a bit unclear and new information about them doesn't come up often.
Step 5. Choose between “All results” and “Only the best results
” Click the link Show options at the bottom of the search box. Then click the drop-down menu to the right of the option How many.
If you choose All results, You will receive all new information related to your search term even if the information is of low quality. This is useful if you want to understand how the online community reacts to an event.
Step 6. Choose a region
Click the link Show options at the bottom of the search box. Then click the drop-down menu to the right of the option Regions.
This option allows you to filter the search results by any region of the world.
Step 7. Choose how you want to receive search results
Click the link Show options at the bottom of the search box. Then click the drop-down menu to the right of the option Deliver to.
You can choose whether you want to receive search results in an email address or an RSS feed. If you don't know what an RSS feed is, read our article on how to create an RSS feed.
Step 8. Click on “Create Alert”
After you make all the options and preview the search results that are displayed to your liking, click Create Alert. You will now receive alerts sent to your email address or RSS feed.
