File-sharing isn’t all about using a client and connecting to a network. In this guide, we’ll show you some Google tricks to help you find files. Using simple Boolean searching, you can find hidden pools of files available directly on servers and one-click hosters (aka cyberlockers) that would be much more difficult with regular keywords.
Quotation Marks
Quotation marks tell Google you want explicitly in a search result. Any result that does not contain a result contained in your quoted search query will be discarded. For example:
Search query: pens pencil paper.
Result: Google will display any page that contains the words pens and/or pencil and/or paper.
Google may favor results that contain all three, but it isn’t necessarily discarding pages that only contains two of the three results.
Search query: “pens” “pencil” “paper”
Result: Google will display only results that contains all three words in the result.
Quotation marks can be extended to whole phrases. For example:
Search query: Joe bought groceries
Result: Google will display results that contain the words Joe and/or bought and/or groceries.
However…
Search query: “Joe bought groceries”
Result: Google will display results with only that exact phrase (those words in that order).
Same concept can be applied for something like music. Example:
Search query: Frozen IceCube Startin Fresh
Result: For me, the music I created appears in the fourth result.
Not exactly what I was hoping for. However…
Search query: “Frozen IceCube” “Startin Fresh”
Result: For me, the first three results show links to my music including a website I never even heard of.
If you add the term “mp3”, the results narrow more for my music. Yay!
So, if you are looking for a file that is hosted on a one-click hoster/cyberlocker, you can add the name of the hoster in quotation marks to a file you are looking for, you can find files that are (or aren’t!) available on the different hosters around the web. Same goes for adding different filetypes to quoted searches. It’s all about experimenting with quoted phrases and words to get different results.
Search by filetype
While cyberlockers may show up less in results using this method, it may be possible to find a file through this method. So…
Search query: mp3 [insert artist name here] [insert track name here]
Result: Google will simply find pages with those words in there.
However…
Search query: filetype:mp3 [insert artist name here] [insert track name here]
Result: Google will look for any mp3 files with those phrases.
Generally speaking, you’ll probably come across a bunch of FTP sites that is basically a giant directory of files sitting on a server somewhere. Since there is no way of telling half of the time if the FTP was set up accidentally in this manner or intentionally (whether for good or bad purposes), it’s always a good idea to scan anything you download in this manner.
It’s actually interesting what one can find when using a little Boolean in Google. This is just one example.
FAQ
Can someone trace me downloading files from servers?
If you are accessing the web via wireless connection, packet sniffing could be a concern. If your computer was hacked and something like a keylogger was installed onto your computer, then someone could watch what you are downloading. Otherwise, the file transaction is between you and whoever is operating the server (and technically your ISP if they have opted to spy on your every movement). Since it is not an open network like many file-sharing systems, it’s much more difficult for others to actually see what you are downloading.
The only other possibility that I’m aware of is if your anti-virus/firewall vendor has a mechanism to spy on you. In most cases though, the question is, how paranoid are you?