Use Google Alerts to keep informed

(Estimated reading time: 2 minutes)

Anyone can use Google Alerts to track anything–hometown news, hobbies, genealogy, a favorite celebrity, and so on.

Businesses use Google Alerts to track the latest posts on:

  • The company
  • Products or services
  • Executive and key personnel
  • Competitors and
  • Industry-related topics

If you are part of the sandwich generation, Google Alerts can help you find resources that can help you juggle caring for aging parents while raising a family and holding a job. Google Alerts can help you find day camps for kids (or seniors), support groups, transportation to medical appointments, or local agencies that offer free or low-cost services for seniors.

If you are decluttering and downsizing, Google Alerts can help you sell or donate books, china dishes, furniture, and other household items.

The Google Alerts that come to my email every day list the latest internet posts on just the topics that I’m interested in. I skim the title of each post, check out the source (newspaper, newsletter, blog, website, and so on), and skim the brief description of the post. Then I click just the posts that I want to view in more detail.

How to create a Google Alert

  1. Go to www.google.com/alerts.
  2. Sign in using your Google email (gmail) account.
  3. Type the word or phrase you want to search.
    Use quotation marks to look up a specific phrase. For example, if you enter German chocolate cake without quotation marks, the results will show every web post that has the word German, chocolate, or cake. If you put the phrase in quotation marks, then the results will show only the posts that have the phrase, German chocolate cake.
  4. Scroll down and check out the preview of the results based on the search terms you just typed. If you aren’t happy with the preview, change the search terms.
  5. Use Show Options to select how often you want to get email with the alerts, the sources you want to Google to search, and so on.
  6. Enter the email address that Google should send the alerts to.

Some tips for better results

If you aren’t getting the results you want, try tweaking the search terms.

  • Add some common misspellings of your search terms to see if Google picks up more or different results.
  • Use a minus sign to add or subtract a subcategory from the search. This is a little tricky.
    • A space before and after the minus sign tells Google to limit that search to a specific subcategory.
    • No space after the minus sign tells Google to subtract a specific subcategory. This is a good way to exclude people, places, or things that have a similar name, like seeing results just for Concord, California and not for the other Concords in the world.
    • Let’s look at a couple of examples.
Alzheimer’s caregivers – Concord, CA Finds posts on Alzheimer’s caregivers in Concord, CA.
(Note space before and after minus.)
Alzheimer’s caregivers -Concord, CA Shows information on Alzheimer caregivers, except for Concord, California.(No space after the minus.)

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susankohltamaoki

Sue Kohl Tamaoki is based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Until recently, she owned and operated a senior referral agency, helping families find assisted living and memory care for loved ones. Prior to becoming a senior referral agent, she was a technical writer and editor, instructional designer, and college instructor. Sue writes this blog to share what she has learned from working with families who want to help an aging loved one, but aren’t sure where to go or what to do. Disclaimer Sue has a Certified Senior Advisor credential, but is not a medical practitioner, financial planner, or lawyer. She is not affiliated with any organization or religious group. The information in this blog is for educational purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for advice from a licensed professional. Any action you take based on the information provided here is strictly at your own risk.

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