TAKE
THE GOOGLE TOUR
by
Mary Howard
The Google Tour is a new service being offered
by the popular search engine Google.
Go to : http://www.google.com
Click "Google Tour"
This tour is an adventurous way to learn how to
use the services and tools provided by Google
to help you make the best of your searches.
Each section of the Google Tour describes how
to use the feature. This is nicely demonstrated
by using the example "plan a tropical vacation".
There is a link to each section of Google's services
along the tour. When you click the link a page
will pop up and you can read what is offered.
The Google Tour goes beyond the basics of searching
the web using only the Search bar. It shows that
there are many different ways that you can find
the information you are looking for.
A brief summary of each section of the Google
Tour is as follows:
A
- Google Services
Froogle: Find products.
Answers: Open fee-based forums.
Catalogs: Browse mail-order catalogs.
Groups: Posting in Usenet discussion forums.
Image: Search millions of images.
Labs: Projects in development by Google.
News: Browse over 4,000 news sources for up-to-date
news.
Special Searches: Narrow your search to a specific
topic.
University: Specific schools on the web.
Web Directory: The web organized by topic into
categories.
Wireless: Search technology from handheld devices.
B
- Google Tools
Browser Buttons: Add a Google button to your browser's
toolbar.
Language: Search in your favorite language.
Toolbar: Add the whole Google toolbar to your
IE browser.
Translate: Translate text or webpages into other
languages.
Web APIs: Software developer queries.
C
- Google Toolbar
This is a detailed explanation on how to add the
Google Toolbar to your Internet Explorer web-browser.
This toolbar allows a user to do a Google search
without having to go directly to the Google website.
This is a free download.
D
- Google Groups
This is a way of finding expert advice or information
from experienced persons on the Internet. A person
can ask a question in a forum and receive an answer
back. This searchable database has access to almost
1 billion Usenet posts on every imaginable topic.
E
- Google News
This is a new service being offered by Google.
There are over 4,000 leading news sources to browse.
By clicking on the headline you can read the whole
story.
F
- Google Images
When you enter a keyword into the image search
you will get a list of images relating to that
topic. When you click the thumbnail image you
will see a larger version of it. You can then
visit the website that the image is located on.
This has to be the most fun feature that Google
offers!
G
- Google Catalogs
A great way to do some online shopping is through
mail-order catalogs. There are literally thousands
of stores that sell online products of every kind.
Google allows you to search catalog databases
to find what you are looking for.
H
- Froogle
This service is for doing a product search. It
is nicely laid out. There is a product logo on
the left, a link to the product site, a price,
and a short product description.
I
- I'm Feeling Lucky
When you do a search on the Search bar at Google
it will bring up a list of search results to choose
from. More often than not the first item on this
list is what you are looking for. When you click
the I'm Feeling Lucky bar it will take you to
the website of the first item of your search results.
Try your own example when doing the Google Tour.
Pick a topic that you would like to know more
about. Then use the Google Tour to find out as
much as you can. You will soon see that there
is a lot more available for searching than just
using the Search bar on the Google homepage. Once
you get really comfortable using these various
services you can broaden your horizons on all
your future searches.
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About The Author
Mary Howard is the owner of Humming Enterprises.
http://humming-enterprises.com
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