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Google Advanced Search for People (Dorks & Operators)
26 August 2026 · 7 min read
Google is still the cheapest people-search tool on earth. The difference between a useless page of namesakes and a usable lead is usually three operators.
Operators that actually help
- Quotes —
"Maya Chen"keeps the name together. - AND extras —
"Maya Chen" Chicago productadds context without fancy syntax. - site: —
site:linkedin.com/in "Maya Chen",site:github.com,site:medium.com. - Minus —
-obituary -wikipediawhen a public figure or a death notice crowds the results. - Filetypes —
filetype:pdf "Maya Chen" resumeor conference programmes. Treat PDFs as leads, not gospel. - Quotes around emails and handles —
"[email protected]"or"@mayac".
Query patterns worth copying
"Full Name" "Company" surfaces team pages and press. "Full Name" "University" finds alumni notes. "Full Name" (podcast OR keynote OR "speaker") finds talks. Combine city + title when the name is common.
Ethics
Operators do not make private data public. They only filter pages already indexed. Do not use this to harass anyone, to bypass a platform login, or to assemble a dossier for an FCRA-covered decision. If you need speed and matching, DeepSearch runs the public-web collection step for you and shows sources so you can still click through.
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