"Related" Search Operator Is Removed from Google

Google search operators are special characters or character sequences used in Google search queries to filter displayed results. There are various search operators, each with its own function. Some of the most common ones include:

 

• site: This operator enables users to search for results from a specific website. For instance, to find all pages on Wikipedia that mention the word "computer," users can use the search query "computer site:wikipedia.org."
• imagesize: An operator used to locate pages containing images of specific predetermined sizes. This operator is applicable only to Google Images.
• filetype: Used to find specific file types in search results, such as pdf, rtf, and more.

 

 

Removal of the "Related" Search Operator

Recently, Google updated its guide on search operators and removed the "related" operator from the list of available operators. The "related" operator was previously used to find similar pages.

The "related:" operator functioned by analyzing backlinks pointing to the user-specified URL. It used this data to identify websites with similarities in popularity and content to the searched URL.

Unfortunately, this operator has been removed from Google's official guide page. In a tweeted announcement, Google stated that the operator was removed because it was no longer functioning and was rarely used.

 

 

Some user replies to the tweet also indicated that the operator had not been functioning properly before, leading to its disuse. This explains the removal of the operator.

Based on our testing, this search operator can still be used at present. However, it appears that it can only be used to find similar websites that are popular, such as Google or other major websites.

 

 

Regrettably, for searching specific websites like cmlabs, this operator is unable to provide similar results.

 

 

In the same tweet, Google mentioned that they will explore other ways to achieve similar information as provided by the "related" operator in the future. Thus, it is possible that this operator will be replaced by more advanced alternatives down the line.