Google announced a new search option that replaces + operator they dropped about a month ago, so it can be used for Google + direct search.

Google said they removed it because it was rarely used and today, Google shared the stats on that. They said “the “+” operator in less than half a percent of all searches, and two thirds of the time, it was used incorrectly.”

So instead, they added a “verbatim” option under the “More search tools” on the left hand side.

Using it will perform a literal search, and not do anything with the following:

making automatic spelling corrections
personalizing your search by using information such as sites you’ve visited before
including synonyms of your search terms (matching “car” when you search [automotive])
finding results that match similar terms to those in your query (finding results related to “floral delivery” when you search [flower shops])
searching for words with the same stem like “running” when you’ve typed [run]
making some of your terms optional, like “circa” in [the scarecrow circa 1963]

Matt Cutts from Google said in a Hacker News thread:

He then fields dozens of questions about the tool and the rational behind it.

Forum discussion at Hacker News & Google Web Search Help.