When it comes to finding something on the internet it does not get any bigger than Google the search engine has become so popular and powerful that it’s now an accepted verb, which is kinda defining the action of “searching the internet.” However there are lots of misconceptions about Google and finding stuff on the web! Let’s see this popular misconceptions even you may have!

1) You are not searching the internet!

Many times when people type something in the Google search bar it’s a common mistake for them to think (or maybe feel like) they are “searching the internet”. You are still wondering? Yes when you do a Google search you are not searching the internet as former Google engineer Matt Cutts explains in this video, you are searching Google’s index of the web! Simple put, you are searching Google’s database or more abstractly you are searching the part of the web Google knows about! I wonder if it’s possible to actually “search the web” if you are curious to know how Google really works watch Matt’s video.

2) Google knows everything!

And many people think Google knows everything! And you are like; sure! Because you Googled “Who is Nelson Mandela” and Google told you exactly who he is right? Well it’s better to say Google knows where to find “everything” than to say Google knows everything. Google is just this fast guy who checks carefully from many sources (indices) and tries to get the answer for you!

If you are careful enough you will notice the answer of “Who is Nelson Mandela” showed by Google did not come from Google but from Britannica.com and the sidebar is from WikiPedia. This is as of the time when I made this search because it can change over time!

3) You did not “find it” on Google!

This can be very hard to explain as the primary use of Google is to help us find stuff , but when I say you didn’t find it on Google I mean the information you found is not coming from Google! Sure Google has it’s on articles and information on the web but it wrong the attribute every information you find on Google to Google.

4) Google is reliable? or at least very reliable?

And you find people bragging about the accuracy of their info and be like “I found it Google” while the statement might not be very correct let’s assume it is. Still it’s not a Good statement to make because Google only shows you stuff that it found and anything can show up on Google so far as it is well optimized! Though Google has very powerful algorithms that tries to ensure you get the very best information, don't just find something on Google without checking the source and quote it like a fact!

5) According to Google?

This can be very hard to explain as the primary use of Google is to help us find stuff , but when I say you didn’t find it on Google I mean the information you found is not coming from Google! Sure Google has it’s on articles and information on the web but it wrong the attribute every information you find on Google to Google.