Google web search results can be limited by timeframe using the 'search options' link on every page, but one startup company CEO discovered today that searches can also be limited to results indexed minutes or seconds ago by making a simple change to the search results page URL.
Startup search engine Omgili's CEO Ran Geva wrote on his company blog today that time-limited search results pages include a parameter called QDR - perhaps standing for Query Date Range. You can change the number following the letters qdr and change the timeframe for your search.
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By default when you click on 'search options' and limit a search to the last day, the qdr appears as 'd.' Change that to 'n' and you'll be limited to results from the last minute, to 'n10' and you'll see results discovered in the last 10 minutes - or 's30' to see results from the last 30 seconds. It couldn't be simpler. Here's a sample search for Portland Oregon Coffee with the search options already turned on.
Geva isn't the first person to discover this, but he's the first we've seen place it within the context of real-time search and we didn't know about it until reading his blog post.
What does it mean? We're not sure yet. We did notice, though, that a Twitter search for the word 'pirates' brings back 2 results in the last minute - and Google brings back 9. Results for many queries, limited to just the last few minutes, are fairly interesting.
Google co-founder Larry Page famously said of real time search back in May 'we have to do it.'
If more granular controls were surfaced, would you use them? I've bookmarked a search within the last 60 minutes - we'll see how that compares with other efforts like placing Twitter search results on top of Google pages. At the very least we can say good job finding this, Ran Geva!
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