Do I search a query on the web or search for a query?

Question

I search somewhere for something I want to find. So I search my house for my keys. What about a query I type in the search bar?

I search "what is ve day" on Google

or,

I search for "what is ve day" on Google

Answer 1

Personally, whenever I explain a search query verbatim to someone, I don't use "for":

I searched "How old is Leonardo DiCaprio" on Google...

Essentially, I'm treating the full search like direct speech.

When one merely states the topic/person/object that they searched for, I feel like without the word "for," the sentence doesn't seem quite right.

I searched for cat images on Google.

I searched for Leonardo Dicaprio's age on Google.

Maybe this is governed by personal preference; I'm not too sure.