Google-search – What does “tbm” mean in Google Search

google-search

What does "tbm" mean in Google Search?
For example: https://www.google.com/?tbm=dsc

Best Answer

Don't know what it stands for, but the tbm URL parameter appears to indicate the filter used. For example:

  • Applications: tbm=app
  • Blogs: tbm=blg
  • Books: tbm=bks
  • Discussions: tbm=dsc
  • Images: tbm=isch
  • News: tbm=nws
  • Patents: tbm=pts
  • Places: tbm=plcs
  • Recipes: tbm=rcp
  • Shopping: tbm=shop
  • Video: tbm=vid

So, tbm=dsc is "Discussions".

(source)

However, it also appears that a lot of these filters are also no longer natively available. (source)