Firefox's ~ Keyword?

http://mysite.com --> http://~mysite

[inuwolf]

Type ~anykeyword into Firefox's address bar and you will end up at the top page for that keyword. You can even click a link to [~anykeyword...] and you'll get that same page.

One of my sites dominates an (obscure) keyword and for that site the address [~obscurekeyword...] could function just like a domain name. While there are some monumental drawbacks (this address only works in Firefox and it only works as long as my site is on top) it looks a lot niftier than a regular domain name. A certain audience might visit my site just to see if the address actually works! This might be particularly good in advertising a popular page on your site that isn't the index, eg: saying "visit ~obscurekeyword through Firefox" could be easier than saying "visit example.com/directory/subdirectory/obscurekeyword.htm".

Has anyone else noticed this / considered its implications?

[getxb]

Hi inuwolf,

Thanks for that.

Has anyone else noticed this / considered its implications?

I am doing this for quite a while now but the process is bit different. Say I want to visit the top ranking site in google with the keyword web master. So I simply type web master in the address bar (firefox) and I visit (no prizes for guessing!) http://www.webmasterworld.com Similarly if I type search using google I land up in http://www.google.com/help/basics.html the page at no. 1 in google.
(note: spaces are allowed here)

But I cant get similar results if I type http://~web master or http://~search using google
(note: spaces are not allowed here)

I also get a strange feeling that this can also be done for yahoo/msn/... but I dont know how :(

regards,
getxb

[larryhatch]

That's amazing. I never knew that. -Larry

[Receptional Andy]

Isn't the squiggle character a search operator for Google that looks for synonyms?

See [webmasterworld.com...]

Typing a word into the firefox address bar uses Google's "I'm Feeling Lucky" search by default, so ~webmaster is just the top result using the synonym operator.

Typing [invalid...] ignores the http and treats it like a keyword if DNS resolution fails, and so results in the same effect.

Or am I missing something?

[inuwolf]

But I cant get similar results if I type [~web...] master or [~search...] using google
(note: spaces are not allowed here)

Try [~search~using~google...] :)

I'm not sure, Receptional. I'll read up on it.

[encyclo]

In Firefox, the address bar acts as a Google search when you enter a search phrase rather than an URL, and the page returned is the "I'm feeling lucky" result.

I believe that this integrated search is part of the agreement between Mozilla and Google, along with the Google-hosted Firefox default home page and default Google search from the dedicated search bar.