Techno-files
Have you 'Googled' lately?By Riley Gay
Question: When is an Internet search site not just a search site?
Answer: When that site is Google (www.google.com).
Not satisfied with being the pre-eminent search site on the Internet, the folks at Google are constantly looking for, and finding, ways to make their product more appealing to Web users. To that end, they’ve been busy adding an array of new services to their already top-notch search site.
Officially launched in 1999, Google has become the search engine of choice for navigating the World Wide Web. They’ve taken that title from such industry stalwarts as Lycos, Infoseek, and Magellan by consistently returning the most relevant and useful links to just about any search query.
How they manage to do that is a closely held secret, but one thing they do differently than the other guys is to rank results based on not only how often a site is linked to the search terms entered in the query, but by the number of links to it from other Web sites. This makes it less likely that Google might be “fooled” by a savvy web site creator into an misleadingly higher ranking, making the results a lot more useful and reliable than those returned by other search engines.
The reliability of their results is further enhanced by the fact that Google doesn’t accept money from advertisers to raise their companies’ sites in their search results, as many of the other search sites are prone to do.
The bottom line is that you just have to type into Google what you’re looking for, and you’ll likely find it in the within the first few choices.
This approach has clearly paid off for Google. Their site is consistently among the top ten most visited places on the Web year after year, making it a prime spot for advertiser dollars. But visitors to the site won’t be bombarded with slow-loading, glitzy graphics – the ads on Google’s site are text-only and are placed there according to their relevance to keywords in the search query, so users only see ads they want to see.
As if this weren’t enough, Google search results can be viewed in dozens of languages (including Klingon), and can be filtered to exclude adult content.
Where most companies might be content to rest on this kind of success, Google has been working to make their service even more useful.
Through their purchase of Usenet provider DejaNews, they’ve added the ability to search newsgroup archives from their site, encompassing over 700 million messages. As a plus, no special newsreader software is required to access messages at their site (groups.google.com). It’s all available via your Internet browser.
Google Image Search (images.google.com), another new feature, has indexed more than 425 million images on the Web. Enter your search terms, and the results page displays thumbnail images that you can click on to view the full picture.
They’ve also recently added the ability to search and browse hundreds of mail-order catalogs online, as well. Point your browser to Google Catalogs (catalogs.google.com/catalog_list) to see a complete listing.
Google News was launched in 2002, offering news stories and information, and the ability to search headlines and photos, from 4,500 news sources from around the world. The site, at news.google.com, is continuously updated throughout the day.
If it’s answers you’re looking for, Google offers a fee-based service that can link you to an expert who will search for the information and return it to you via email. The answer to your query will also be posted on the Google Answers (answers.google.com) website, inviting further comment or illumination from other registered users. The fee for your search is whatever is agreed upon in advance between you and the researcher, and can range anywhere from $2 to $200.
One of their latest projects involves using Google search technology to find specific products available from online retailers. Launching a product search on Froogle (froogle.google.com) will give users a list of links that will help them to find the product they’re looking for, at a price they’re willing to pay. And since Froogle does not sell the products or promote any partner stores in their search results, users can be sure of getting an unbiased product listing.
Given the vastness and complexity of the World Wide Web, navigating through the maze of information can be a daunting prospect.
But with Google around to keep it indexed and organized, finding your way around has gotten a whole lot easier.
