I am a good searcher on search engines and I admit I only use a handful of keywords to Get the result/s I want on the Top of the List (can be 1000's)
I Never use Boolean Logic searches (to reduce the Hits) cut down to a few 100's. Very rarely use Googles "format" words (about the same number)

But how about bringing it down to what has just been updated or added These results are scattergunned all over the above searches
The Target is to get Google to give you Less than a pageful of results of your original search (of 1 million hits)
NOTE: Works best on News stories but Forum postings also rank well with this trick

Method: (numbers will vary all the time)
Make a search on Google for say "Google Street View Car sightings" (Growing daily ,and I am putting locations on a custom Google map)

1= Google Street View Car sightings gets me 131,000 hits
2= Let's tune the finds down to just the last 24 hours with NO alterations to the search words
(can be done with Boolean but is very longhanded )

Look to the right of the search box and Click on Advanced search

2a= Scroll down this page and there is a link called Date, usage rights, numeric range, and more
click it and only the Date menu Box is needed
It is set to Anytime by default
open this menu and switch the setting to "Past 24 hours" which is the smallest setting
Next click on the "Advanced search" button in the righthand corner to return to the search page
Looks the same? ...Look closer, 2 things have changed there is another menu box adjacent to the search button /boxes with the same Timing information
and the Searches are now cut to a manageable
1170
and the Page's description says

quote:

Results 1 - 100 of about 1,170 over the past 24 hours for Google Street View Car sightings

I have Maxed the result "Hits" on the "Preferences" to 100 per page and its just 2 pages long

PS If I returned to the region setting and concentrated on the UK only,the Hit count is
down to 16!
and The result I want is on top of the Pile
Google street camera seen in Sudbury report is 16 hours old
That is close to FredPuli's area (adjacent county,Suffolk)
And deep in the countryside 10 miles due west of Ipswich

Thank you, bedstor dear, for figuring all that out!

Update for those Viewing this Topic:

In Addition to this Trick, Google Have added More Search "Hits" sorting, Help features (In October /November 09)Making it more of a No Brainer