Searching on Google is an every day occurrence for most, with the search engine now processing over five billion queries each day - more than two trillion each year. Since it was founded in 1998, the company has grown to become the number one search engine, with 92.8% of the market share.
Now renowned as not only a search site, but boasting analytics tools, maps, shopping, video ( YouTube ) and news options, Google has never been so influential in our lives as it is now. The California based company has tons of secret features only a fraction of its users know about, some useful for day-to-day browsing, others solely to amuse you.
So, if you find yourself looking blankly at your browser not knowing what to do, we've got 10 tricks you need to know.
Dinosaurs!
There is little as irritating as "Unable to connect to the Internet" message on Chrome, so to pass the time while it reconnects, Google came up with a solution. If you hit spacebar, you will soon enter a game featuring a dinosaur jumping over obstacles
Kevin Bacon
Hilariously, Google '[celebrity] bacon number' and it will show you the degrees of separation between that celebrity and Kevin Bacon.
Reverse searching
If you have an image you are looking to verify or find more information about, you can simply drag it into a Google search. Up will pop similar or duplicate images.
This is particularly useful when trying to validate whether someone has sent you an original photo, or it is in fact already in existence.
Time travel
If you fancy a blast from the past, type in 'Google in 1998' and see what the internet looked like 24 years ago when the company first emerged.
Barrel roll
If you type in 'do a barrel roll' then click search, the webpage will do a 360-degree spin in reference to Nintendo's Star Fox series. You can achieve the same effect by typing 'z or r twice' then hitting search.
Set timer
If you need to remind yourself to turn off the oven or any other routine task, search 'set timer for e.g. five minutes' and the search engine will pull up a timer at the top of the screen and let you know when it's over.
IP address
Your IP address is your unique code which identifies where your device is and can be used to track you by the police or hackers. If you want to know your code, just Google 'What's my IP'.
Roll a dice
If you can't find dice and want to play a board of even casino game, Google is here to help. Simply type in 'roll a die' and search.
Gravity
If you type in 'Google Gravity' on the homepage, then click 'I'm feeling lucky', the page's text will drop as though hit by gravity.
Explore space
You can explore the stars, constellations and galaxies from your desktop by searching 'Google sky maps'.
