Google Search – Different Parameters Used in Queries

google-searchquerystring

For example:
If I search for hello in Google, URL looks somethings like this:
https://www.google.ca/search?q=hello&rlz=1CAHPZT_enCA791CA791&oq=hello&aqs=chrome..69i57.3586j0j9&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

I am interested in knowing more about these parameters.

Best Answer

When a user "Googles" something, there are multiple parameters being passed on to the Google search service. Since the example you put in the description is the most basic one, the URL looks short. Your query utilizes the following parameters:

  • q: the query string Google is passing on to the search service.

  • oq: the query string you typed on Google.

  • aqs: stands for assisted query stats and is found when searching Google through Chrome omnibox. Mainly used for logging purposes, the parameter contains impressions of all auto complete matches shown at the query submission time.

  • sourceId: type of the source.

  • ie: type of encoding, UTF-8 is mostly used.

If you search for images, maps, videos, etc., the parameter list would be much longer.

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