Email Newsletters I've subscribed to - I have subscribed to dozens of email newsletters that send curated lists of evergreen and timely reads. When I'm seeking pieces on a specific topic, I search my gmail. I enter "<topic> AND <name of sender>", and I get served up articles that are otherwise buried on the internet.
Slack groups - I'm part of multiple slack groups—on tech, research, innovation, and internet culture. Slack searches are my go-to when I'm researching a topic or looking for resources.
"Keyword" AND "publication" - Even if I'm using Google search, I'm always finding ways to niche down my query. One way I do this is to enter the name of a publication along with my query. This strategy serves results that are useful and more trustworthy. I search something like: "houseplants AND New Yorker".
Image search - Google images are a treasure trove for me. I enter my search query on google, but I begin my search in the Images tab. I find models and diagrams are far easier to browse and assess compared to 100s of links of text-based results.
Are.na - I'd describe Are.na as Pinterest for uncommon, unexpected, and fringe information (articles, videos, social media, academic papers, you name it). I use the website to search through hand-picked collections belonging to knowledge curators, hobbyists, and experts on a topic.
Metaphor - Metaphor is a search engine using AI to generate search results that are more relevant and interesting. I'm still playing around with it, but I see promise on this platform, especially with the many prompts, to offer up information that is useful and often buried.
These are some places I poke around to get more value out of my search. I highly recommend trying them out.