Did you read the user manual for Google? Even if, the fact is, most people don't.
This is a trick insofar as most of the people don't know it. There are no obvious links to any kind of Google Search manual, and those features are not clearly advertised anywhere, so they can be treated like tricks of "those in the know".
There are many meanings to word hack, and while some uses are more stretched than others, this one isn't that bad. Want to pick on something really meaningless? Try "growth hacking".
BTW. Creative uses of those features are actually called "google dorks" and are collected in a database[0].
This is a trick insofar as most of the people don't know it. There are no obvious links to any kind of Google Search manual, and those features are not clearly advertised anywhere, so they can be treated like tricks of "those in the know".
There are many meanings to word hack, and while some uses are more stretched than others, this one isn't that bad. Want to pick on something really meaningless? Try "growth hacking".
BTW. Creative uses of those features are actually called "google dorks" and are collected in a database[0].
[0] - http://www.exploit-db.com/google-dorks/