The Web column
On this page
The Web column lists web pages, as returned by Google-hosted search. It sits beside the News column on the All, Web, News and Websites tabs, so one search gives you both the reporting and the pages around it.
#Where it appears
| Tab | Web column |
|---|---|
| All | Yes, first, beside News |
| Web | Yes, first, beside News |
| News | Yes, beside the News column |
| Websites | Yes, beside the list of sites |
| Images and Videos | No |
On a phone the columns stack. On the All and Web tabs, a small link in each column heading, News or Web, jumps to the other column.
#What a Web result looks like
- The source line shows the site's icon, its name and its address.
- The title opens the page.
- The snippet is Google's excerpt, with your words in bold.
- Full coverage runs a new search in the same tab, using the page's title. 4Search then looks in its own index for articles with a similar headline. See Full coverage and Related Coverage.
#Searching the web precisely
Google's own operators generally work here, and Google decides how each one behaves. Type site:energy.gov after your words to see one site, filetype:pdf for PDF documents, or quote a phrase. 4Search passes what you type to Google as it is. See Google-style operators.
On the All tab, the date you choose in the News filters row also narrows the Web column while Apply to web is ticked. A note above the Web results says what was added: after: followed by a date. The other filters apply to News only. See Narrow results with filters.
#When the Web column shows a message
| You see | What to do |
|---|---|
| Google-hosted web results are loading, with Retry Google Results | Wait a moment. If nothing appears, select Retry Google Results |
| External web results could not load | Check your connection. A content blocker in your browser can also stop Google-hosted results from loading |
| No external web results were returned or Google loaded, but no external web results were returned | Change your words, or try again later |
The News column does not depend on the Web column. It still shows its results.
#Long searches
On the Web, News and Websites tabs, Google-hosted results are for searches of up to 160 characters. Longer questions work differently by tab:
- News and Websites leave out the Web column and show their own results full width.
- Web keeps the Web column but asks you to enter a shorter search.
- All still shows both columns.
#Common questions
Why do Web results and News results differ?
They come from different places. The Web column is Google's list of pages. The News column is 4Search's own index of articles, matched by meaning. See How 4Search finds and orders results.
Can I make Web results show only one site?
Yes. Add site: and the address to your words, for example heat pump site:energy.gov. To search one site's articles in the News column, use Search this website on a result card. See Google-style operators.
Why is there no Web column on Images and Videos?
Those tabs show pictures and videos from articles only. Use All, Web or News for the Web column.
Why does a Web result have a Full coverage button?
To connect the web with the news. It searches the 4Search index for articles with a headline similar to that page's title.