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How to Use Google to Find the Cheapest Gas Prices in Your Area
To find cheap gas using Google, we will use a feature called subscribed links. You can access Google Subscribed Links by clicking on Preferences on the main Google Homepage, outlined in pink below:
Once you arrive at the preferences page, you need to scroll down to the section entitled Subscribed Links. You will then need to click on the link to the Subscribed Links Directory, as shown outlined in pink below.
If you are unable to see the Subscribed Links section, then you need to sign into your Google Account, and return to the preferences page.
You can either scroll down until you find the GasBuddy subscribed link, or you can simply perform a search at the top of the page for GasBuddy.
If you scroll down (which is the route I took), you will see the following:
You need to click on the Subscribe button, that I have circled in pink. Once it is activated, you should see the Subscribe button turn into an Unsubscribe button as shown below.
You’re all set! Now you can perform Google searches and Gas Prices will show up in the 4th search result. Google makes all subscribed links show up in that position, I’m not quite sure as to the reasoning behind this however.
If you type in gas chicago, you will get these results:
You can also search by area code, here’s what you get when typing in gas prices 15216:
Lastly, the city, state method works very well also:
If you have any questions about the GasBuddy subscribed link, just let me know in the comments section below.
How to Use Google to Find Movie Showtimes, Find Theaters, and Reserve Your Tickets
Many internet users already know how to go to their movie theater’s website and see what movies they are currently showing and what the showtimes are. However, there is an easier way! Google has an index of pretty much every theater in the United States together with what movies they are currently showing and at what times.
One way to access this database is to type in the name of a movie that you want to see, then type in your location. For example, you can type in the name of the movie, and just the name of your city if you live in a large city. If your city is a little bit smaller, you may want to add a comma after the city name and type in the state.
You can also just type in the name of the movie and the ZIP code for your city. Google automatically finds theaters that are within a reasonable distance so that you can see the available alternatives.
Another method is to type in the name of the movie followed by your state. This only works for some of the smaller and less-populated states. As you can see below, it works for the smallest state by land area, Rhode Island.
Find All the Theaters Playing a Certain Movie
If you do a search for The Incredible Hulk, Seattle and then click on the name of the movie, you will be directed to a page similar to the one below:
From this screen, you can see all of the theaters that are playing The Incredible Hulk in the Seattle area.
How to Reserve Your Seat Without Standing In Line
You may notice that some of the showtimes are clickable (the ones that are blue and underlined). When you click on one of these links, it will transfer you to a website that allows you to purchase your movie tickets online.
This allows you to save your time by not having to go to the theater beforehand to get your tickets if you know the movie will be sold out.
Not Sure What Movie to See?
If all you know is that you want to spend approximately two hours of your time in a dark room full of strangers watching something on a screen, then simply type in movies [insert your city name, or ZIP code here]. You can see an example of this below.
For example, if I type in movies, traverse city, mi Google will show me a list of all of the movies that are playing in all of the theaters in Traverse City, MI.
You may notice that the title of the results, Showtimes for Traverse City, MI, is a clickable link. If you click on it, Google will show you all of the movies that are playing in Traverse City at any movie theater.
From this screen, Google makes it easy to hone in on any movie that sounds interesting. In the upper right hand corner, Google allows you to sort the listings by the following attributes:
- Theater Distance
- Movie Popularity
- Movie Rating
- Movie Title
Once you’ve done that, you can then click on the reviews to the left of the movie title to read what others think of the movie. Be careful though, they may contain spoilers that could potentially ruin the movie for you.
Google also tells you the running time of the movie, the rating, the genre, and allows you to view the movie trailer online. In addition, Google provides a link to the IMDb, which stands for the Internet Movie Database.
Getting to the Theater
After the title of the movie theater, Google displays the address. If you’re not sure where the address is located, Google provides a handy Map link that will allow you to view a map of where the theater is located. Optionally, you can enter your address and Google will give you driving directions.
Enjoy your movie!
How to Display More Than 10 Search Results at a Time in Google
Have you ever found yourself searching for a certain website that you know you’ve been to before, but you can’t seem to find it? If you’re like me, you keep clicking the Next link at the bottom of each page of search results, hoping in vain that the page you are looking for will show up in the next page of ten search results.
There’s an Easier Way!
Google has a setting hidden in its Preferences page that allows you to choose to display more than ten search results at a time. In order to do this, simply head on over to the Google Homepage and click on the Preferences link as shown in the screen shot below.
Next, you will want to scroll down almost to the bottom of the preferences page and find the section entitled Number of Results that is boxed in red below.
Now, you want to click on the drop-down box where it says Display 10 results per page. You can select 10, 20, 30, 50, all the way up to 100 search results to be displayed at a time. Note that if you have a slower internet connection, you may not want to do 100, but if you have DSL or faster, you can set it to 100 without a noticeable delay in the search results page’s loading time.
We’re almost done, all we have to do now is click on the button that says Save Preferences. Google will then save these preferences as a cookie in your browser’s cache.
Now, try performing a search! On the results page, you should read Results 1-100 of about… in the blue bar at the top of the results page. You must have cookies enabled on your browser for this functionality, and all of the other options in Google Preferences, to work.
That’s all there is to it! Now, every time you perform a search, Google will display the amount of search results that you requested it to display on the Preferences page. If you have any questions or if it’s not working out right for you, just leave a comment below!
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