&gt;  2. queries that require Natural Language Processing: Google understands stuff like &quot;the bad moustache guy from XYZ series&quot; where I myself have only a vague idea of what I&#x27;m looking for.<p>I suspect that Google has been trained by a bunch of people who just don&#x27;t know how to search, and that&#x27;s why natural language works and the + operator failed.  Have a look at Reddit&#x27;s &quot;Tip of my tongue&quot; subreddit for examples.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;tipofmytongue&#x2F;comments&#x2F;3xbpmp&#x2F;tomt_movie_very_specific_scene&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;tipofmytongue&#x2F;comments&#x2F;3xbpmp&#x2F;tomt_...</a><p>Doesn&#x27;t mention that it&#x27;s a live action movie; doesn&#x27;t give any clue about time; doesn&#x27;t mention that it&#x27;s (probably) an American film; doesn&#x27;t mention genre of the movie; etc.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;tipofmytongue&#x2F;comments&#x2F;3xbpsu&#x2F;tomtsong_about_moving_from_georgia_to_california&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;tipofmytongue&#x2F;comments&#x2F;3xbpsu&#x2F;tomts...</a><p>It&#x27;s a pop song. About moving west. Maybe from Georgia.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;tipofmytongue&#x2F;comments&#x2F;3xbqxu&#x2F;tomt_video_youtube_video_of_a_teenager_out_in_the&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;tipofmytongue&#x2F;comments&#x2F;3xbqxu&#x2F;tomt_...</a><p>&gt; I remember this guy who went out to the woods for the day. The guy was pretty young, I want to say late teens. He made some lunch for himself and then got lost on the way back. I found the video on reddit 1 or 2 years ago. The video production style is very Survivorman-esque if that helps at all.<p>I haven&#x27;t carefully selected these. I just grabbed a few from New.<p>About the + operator. Check my math, but only 1 in 600 searches used it correctly.  Another 2 in 600 searches used it, but used it incorrectly.<p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;insidesearch.blogspot.co.uk&#x2F;2011&#x2F;11&#x2F;search-using-your-terms-verbatim.html" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;insidesearch.blogspot.co.uk&#x2F;2011&#x2F;11&#x2F;search-using-your...</a><p>&gt;  In the past, we provided users with the “+” operator to help you search for specific terms. However, we found that users typed the “+” operator in less than half a percent of all searches, and two thirds of the time, it was used incorrectly. A couple of weeks ago we removed the “+” operator, encouraging the use of the double quotes, which are more likely to be used correctly.<p>I&#x27;m not sure what DDG is supposed to do here.  Are they supposed to target &quot;power users&quot;?  People who know what AND and OR and + and &quot;exact phrase&quot; mean?  Because that&#x27;s a niche audience.  It would mean DDG is <i>loved</i> by a small group of people, but never breaks into mainstream use.