Despite this, I am willing to bet that most people just use the vanilla search as is.
I mean Google is supposed to be easy to use, so why complicate it?
Well, for starters, these functions are meant save you a lot of time and effort.

Today we’ll be highlighting some of our favorite Google search tricks.
Most symbols and integers can be swapped with written words, too.
Unit conversionsConversions are just as easy.
Simply enter a number followed by something likeUSD to GBP,mm to inch,Fahrenheit to Celsius.
Other tweaksWhile all of that is handy and easy to use, things get much more intricate.
There are also plenty of minor hacks and tweaks.
For instance, Omgili shows how to tinker with a Google search URL toget real-time results.
Google is cooking up an innovative personal communication and collaboration tool dubbedGoogle Wave.