But for the other cases, like looking up specific serial numbers or whatever, it's a mess.
It is a boatload of extra typing, but the "allintext:" operator is your friend for those kinds of searches. I wish there was a URL modifier that could force google to assume allintext: on the search - that way I could have two different google search engines in firefox, one for literal and one for more "semiotic" searches. Maybe there is and I just don't know it?
http://www.googleguide.com/advanced_operators_reference.html...