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Last Updated February 25, 2024<\/span><\/p>\n<\/header>\n Ancestry 50% Off Gift Memberships for Black Friday (Gift to Anyone, Even Yourself!)<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n As search engines go, Google is the undisputed king. Across the globe\u00a0<\/span>Google garners more than 82 percent of searches<\/span>, which is probably why the name has become <\/span>a verb that\u2019s synonymous with online searching<\/span>. <\/span>While there\u2019s much to be said about the benefits of turning to Google for genealogical research\u00a0family historians can also get great results from using other search engines, like Bing. <\/span><\/p>\n Bing, Microsoft\u2019s search engine, was launched in 2009 and is currently the second most popular search engine in the U.S.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Although Google and Bing index and deliver sites in a similar manner to users,\u00a0<\/span>Bing\u2019s goal is to offer results in a real-world context rather than just showing sites based on the presence of specific text.\u00a0<\/span>Bing and Google search results also differ slightly in layout, and Bing\u2019s video and image pages offer large, organized thumbnails along with descriptions and source information.<\/span><\/p>\n These differences can mean new opportunities to discover records about your ancestors, so taking the time to explore this search engine could yield big rewards.<\/p>\n Make Instant Discoveries in Your Family Tree Now Imagine adding your family tree to a simple website and getting hundreds of new family history discoveries instantly.<\/b><\/p>\n MyHeritage is offering 2 free weeks of access to their extensive collection of 20 billion historical records, as well as their matching technology that instantly connects you with new information about your ancestors<\/b>. Sign up using the link below to find out what you can uncover about your family. Discover New Genealogy Records Instantly<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n When you\u2019re using Bing for genealogy research, it\u2019s a good idea to keep these basic search guidelines in mind:<\/span><\/p>\n A string of search words with no symbols will be assumed to have an <\/span>AND <\/b>between each term<\/span>Operators like <\/span>AND<\/b>, <\/span>OR<\/b>, or <\/span>NOT<\/b> must be capitalized so Bing will recognize them as directions for search<\/span>Punctuation marks (periods, question marks, exclamation points, etc.) are ignored in a search<\/span>Only the first 10 terms you type into the search bar are actually used in the search<\/span><\/p>\n Got it? Great! Now let\u2019s dig in to see how to apply Bing\u2019s search tricks to find our family members!<\/span><\/p>\n Sure, enclosing a multi-word search term with quotation marks has become the universal practice for indicating an exact search, but have you explored all the ways to use this function in genealogy? <\/span><\/p>\n You probably know that enclosing a name like \u201cFranklin Peck\u201d is only going to display results where the word <\/span>Franklin<\/span><\/i> is followed by the word <\/span>Peck<\/span><\/i> with no words or letters between the two terms. That means that if your ancestor is listed in a record as <\/span>Franklin C. Peck, <\/span><\/i>that record will be excluded from your search results unless they also appear on the page as Franklin Peck.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n It won\u2019t hurt to try this search with all variations of a name in quotation marks just to cover all of your bases, like this:<\/span><\/p>\n 20 Billion Genealogy Records Are Free for 2 Weeks Get two full weeks of free access to more than 20 billion genealogy records right now. You\u2019ll also gain access to the MyHeritage discoveries tool that locates information about your ancestors automatically<\/b> when you upload or create a tree. What will you discover about your family\u2019s past?<\/p>\n Claim My Free Record Access Now<\/b><\/span>\u201cFranklin C. Peck\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u201cFranklin Carmac Peck\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u201cFrank Peck\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u201cPeck, Frank\u201d\u00a0<\/i>\u201cPeck, Franklin\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n Exact search can be a valuable tool for any multi-word phrase \u2013 not just names. For example, if you\u2019re searching for a particular newspaper, cemetery, place of worship, etc. and only want to see results that contain the entire phrase, add quotations to your search like this:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNew Providence Baptist\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u201cAmarillo Globe-Times\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u201cGilbert Family Cemetery\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n If you\u2019re searching for a common name like <\/span>Smith<\/span><\/i> or <\/span>Jones,<\/span><\/i> or if your initial search presents a lot of irrelevant sites, you can further narrow your results using the plus (+) sign and\/or parentheses. <\/span><\/p>\n In Bing, adding a plus sign before a word will display only results that contain that specific word. It is similar to using the quotation marks, but allows you to specify that words can be found in any order \u2013 such a +Franklin +Peck to return results where both words are found on the page anywhere.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Similarly, enclosing a group of words in parentheses will show only results where that group of words<\/strong> is included \u2013 but not necessarily in order. The words must appear somewhere<\/em> on the page.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n You might use this function in conjunction with your exact search in quotation marks, adding known facts like a year of birth, city or state, or even the type of record you\u2019re looking for, preceded by the plus sign. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n So, for example, if you type in \u201cFrank Peck\u201d +obituary<\/i>, or\u00a0\u201cFrank Peck\u201d (death notice)<\/i>, only results for\u00a0Frank Peck<\/i>\u00a0that also include the word\u00a0obituary<\/i>\u00a0or the words\u00a0death and notice<\/i>\u00a0(not necessarily together)\u00a0on the same web page will be included in your search results.<\/p>\n Here are a few examples of how your search might look:<\/p>\n \u201cFranklin Peck\u201d +1941 \u2013 could also use \u201cFranklin Peck\u201d \u201c1941\u201d<\/i>\u201cFrank Peck\u201d (Poteau Oklahoma) \u2013 could also use \u201cFrank Peck\u201d +Poteau +Oklahoma<\/i>\u201cFrank C Peck\u201d +1864 +Alabama\u00a0 \u2013 could also use \u201cFrank C Peck\u201d (1864 Alabama)<\/i><\/p>\n Adding multiple restrictions will significantly reduce your results, perhaps to the point that your query returns no results at all, but don\u2019t let that discourage you. Try again with fewer restrictive terms, or add a term with no operators (plus sign, quotation marks, parentheses, etc.)<\/span><\/p>\n Another way to accomplish this same goal is to use the word<\/span> AND <\/span><\/i>(in all caps). However, you\u2019ll still need to use operators like quotation marks or parentheses to enclose multi-word terms. You might type something like this:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFrank Peck\u201d AND Oklahoma AND census<\/span><\/em>\u201cFranklin Peck\u201d AND (Poteau Oklahoma) AND death<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n Try different combinations to see what works best for your search. Each attempt will likely turn up new possibilities.<\/p>\n If you have a <\/span>George Washington Williams<\/span><\/i> or <\/span>Benjamin Franklin Johnson<\/span><\/i> in your family tree, or your great-grandmother was actually named <\/span>Clara Barton <\/span><\/i>or <\/span>Elizabeth Taylor<\/span><\/i>, typing their first and middle names into a search engine will definitely present you with page after page of unrelated results about presidents, inventors, nurses, and actresses. <\/span><\/p>\n Including the operators we\u2019ve just learned about will help to narrow your search, but sometimes you\u2019ll actually get more relevant results by excluding terms that are truly irrelevant.<\/span><\/p>\n Let\u2019s say that your ancestor is named Michael Young. Type the term <\/span>Michael Young <\/span><\/i>into the search bar and you\u2019ll discover that there are a lot of famous and semi-famous Michael Youngs that will show up way before your ancestor. There are at least two professional basketball players named Michael Young, an NFL football player Michael Young, an MLB baseball player Michael Young, a doctor Michael Young, a CEO Michael Young\u2026well, you get the picture. <\/span><\/p>\n To exclude these guys from your search, you can precede certain terms with the minus sign, like this:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMichael Young\u201d -NBA -basketball -athlete -doctor -MLB -baseball -NFL -football<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n If you continue to get results for the more famous Michaels, you might try removing some of the more closely related exclusion terms (NBA and MLB, for example) so you have room to add new terms (<\/span>-CEO, -London<\/span><\/i>, etc.). Just remember that Bing only recognizes the first ten terms in a search.<\/span><\/p>\n Now that you know some of the tricks to finding your ancestors on Bing, it\u2019s time to put what you\u2019ve learned into practice.<\/span><\/p>\n As genealogists we definitely understand the value of exploring and exhausting every available source to find answers, so play around with your plus and minus signs, quotation marks, and parentheses to find more and more results. <\/span><\/p>\n And because it\u2019s very possible that one search engine may have picked up some content that another search engine missed, using both Bing and Google should help you to uncover previously undiscovered sources.<\/span><\/p>\n Bing has other operators that could be useful to you. Read all about them here.<\/p>\n 6 \u2018Secret\u2019 Google Search Tricks for Genealogy That\u2019ll Help You Find Your AncestorsThis Clever Google Search Tactic Will Help You Find Your Ancestors on Any Genealogy WebsiteThe One Google Search Trick Every Genealogist Needs to Know Now<\/p>\n By By Patricia Hartley. <\/strong>For nearly 30 years Patricia Hartley\u00a0<\/strong>has\u00a0researched and written about the ancestry and\/or descendancy of her personal family lines, those of her extended family and friends, and of historical figures in her community. After earning a B.S. in Professional Writing and English and an M.A. in English from the University of North Alabama in Florence, Alabama, she completed an M.A. in Public Relations\/Mass Communications from Kent State University. She\u2019s a member of the Alabama Genealogical Society, Association of Professional Genealogists, National Genealogical Society, International Society of Family History Writers, Tennessee Valley Genealogical Society, Natchez Trace Genealogical Society and the International Institute for Reminiscence and Life Review.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Search Tricks You Need to Find Your Ancestors With Bing Last Updated February 25, 2024 Ancestry 50% Off Gift Memberships for Black Friday (Gift to Anyone, Even Yourself!) As search engines go, Google is the undisputed king. Across the globe\u00a0Google garners more than 82 percent of searches, which is probably why the name has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":374,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2],"class_list":["post-373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-genealogy-guides","tag-db"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":379,"href":"https:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373\/revisions\/379"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Bing Search for Genealogy: <\/b>Understanding the Basics<\/b><\/h2>\n
Use quotation marks for an exact search<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"Bing](\"http:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Bing-Search-Quotation-Marks.png\")
<\/picture><\/noscript><\/p>\nNarrow results with the plus sign, parentheses, and AND<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"Bing](\"http:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Bing-Search-Quotation-Marks-Parentheses-Plus.png\")
<\/picture><\/noscript><\/p>\nExclude irrelevant terms with the minus sign<\/b><\/h3>\n
![\"Bing](\"http:\/\/www.whogenealogydna.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Bing-Search-Quotation-Marks-Parentheses-Plus-Minus.png\")
<\/picture><\/noscript><\/p>\nPutting it all together<\/b><\/h3>\n
For help making the most of your Google searches read these articles:<\/h3>\n