Two (plus a space) for me. if you’re on iOS - and I think Android - if you hold the “123” modifier and then _slide_ to the “!” and release, it inputs the character and then switches the keyboard back to alpha. one touch.
You forgot that you'll have to put the focus back on the search bar. And you have to hit enter.
Android:
0. slide back up to the search bar
1. touch the search bar
2. touch "space" (optional, I guess)
3. touch "?123" modifier
4. touch "!"
5. touch "?123" modifier
6. touch "g"
7. touch "enter" or "search"
Android: