Ever seen a traffic sign up close? Truth is, you could turn SPEED LIMIT 65 into a sizable kitchen table and seat six in no time. Not that we’d encourage such tomfoolery. But there’s a reason speed limit signs are so ginormous. They’re the most important, and when you need to see them you’re zipping along at top speed on a highway. So they are can’t-miss, fraternity-house-furnishing HUGE.

Quite logically, smaller signs tell you lesser information like “clean bathrooms” or “state historical monument” and are destined to be read less frequently (or re-purposed as quaint serving trays).

Not too long ago someone applied the same idea to the information superhighway and created tag clouds. And an even brighter bulb wedded that idea with Google, bringing us DeeperWeb.

DeeperWeb riffs on your Google search, suggesting related terms in font that’s sized for the degree of relevance. After installing, DeeperWeb shows up in the far right of your browser when you view search results. Open and close results by clicking on the arrow:

To hone in on the right tag cloud suggestions and perfect your search, hover over a term. Click on the green area to focus on the term or the red area to exclude it:

You can also change the kind of information the cloud gives you to sites, phrases or zones:

DeeperWeb also lets you use other search engines in its sidebar while still viewing your Google results:

Click one of the search engine icons and the cloud closes, focusing on your new results:

Check it out. DeeperWeb just might suit your searching style.

Post from Elise Allen, who will never give up the search, thanks to add-ons like DeeperWeb. See all posts by Elise Allen.