In the past, if you searched in Google for an exact phrase you only had to start the phrase off with a double quote to achieve that result.

For example a search for [“query goes here] would be the same as [“query goes here”]. That is no longer the case.

Try it yourself by searching for [“It was a big turning point] vs. [“It was a big turning point”]. The results are different. Three days ago, they would have been the same.

Inout spotted this and also posted a thread on it at Google Blogoscoped Forums where one searcher said, “That’s a pain. I used to use that a lot. Even though it was one character it felt like it was saving me a lot of time (I guess because it was two key presses).”

Forum discussion at Google Blogoscoped Forums.