You can perform targeted searches by using what Google calls “trigger words”–or words that tell the search engine to return specific types of information, such as the local weather or local showtimes for currently running movies. Like search prefixes, some of these trigger words work best when they are followed by a colon and then by the relevant search phrase. There are a couple dozen trigger words.

Some of the more useful include “weather,” “movies,” and “tracking.” For instance, a search for “weather:Berlin” will quickly return the five-day weather forecast for Berlin, Germany, as well as dozens of related links to weather in that city.

Use the trigger word “movie:,” where you replace with the name of the film you’d like to see, and Google will ask you for your location if you haven’t registered it already with the search engine. Once you provide that information, Google will instantly return a listing of movie theatres where the film is playing, along with showtimes. The triggers “film” and “showtimes” work identically, by the way.

If you ever need to track a package sent using one of the major shippers, such as FedEx or UPS, you can do so right from the Google search field by typing “tracking” followed by the actual tracking number. There’s no need to use a colon after “tracking.” Just a space and the number. In an instant, you’ll receive a link that allows you to pinpoint the whereabouts of the package.

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