JNet's Guide to Google

• See also Top new search engines that offer Google some comptetition
• Other, old stalwarts
• Click here for Search Tips on how to use search engines

Google  Amazing accuracy -- the best around.

Try these special Google tools:

• Try Google's Advanced to narrow your search. Read how to do domain searches. Click here for a list of domains and here for a list of sub-domains.
• Install the Google Toolbar to have Google at your fingertips
• Install a Google Button for instant keyword searches
• GoogleNews The best search engine on the web has rolled out a "beta" test version of an important new service for journalists -- a news search tool. You can read the last week's news by topic (World, Business, etc) or use the search box with the usual powerful Google accuracy.
• Google News Archives News archive search provides an easy way to search and explore historical archives. You can search articles or a timeline of events and articles. Some of the results from various publications are free, others are not, but all provide helpful leads.
• Google News Alerts are sent by email when news articles appear online that match the topics you specify. Instead of getting useless web pages you get only reliable news sources. You can ask for as many as you want and you can request they get sent once a day or as news happens. Using the advanced search function, you can even narrow your alerts to a single publication. Be sure to read the tips to find out how this is done.
• Google News Timeline If you're a regular fan of Google News, click on Archive News Search and then, when you enter your keywords, select "Timeline." This will give you results along with a sliding timeline : you can select a year or month to narrow down your news archive search to a particular time period.
• Google Proximity Search Sometimes you need to find keywords right next to another word. For example, you want "global warming" and "automobiles" near each other in a sentence so you know the web page is relevant to your search. This nifty tool allows you to make sure your chosen keywords are within one to three words apart.
  
• Google Experiments Why settle for results in Google the way everyone else gets them? Here you can pick and sign up for one of several "Alternative views" of your Google results -- a timeline, a map, or in context of other information typessuch as key dates, locations and measurements.
• Google Desktop The best search engine on the web can now be used to search your files and emails on your own computer. This beta test download installs easily, searches your computer and then lets you find lost or forgotten files -- even files you deleted thanks to Google's cache function.
• Google Insights Want to know what the world is searching for? This new tool by Google allows you to see where and when any keyword has been searched. You can even get detailed location information on by state, province, and even right down to the city level. Want to know what regions get the most searches for a racy or illegal topic? Want to see how interest in a story you are covering has waned? This is the spot.
• Google Video Still in beta or test mode, this new Google tool is designed to let you search through TV transcripts of recent programs. So far it is limited to a handful of American stations and networks (PBS, CSPAN, Fox News) but Google promises they will be adding channels in the near future. You can also search by title, channel or station. For more video tools, see JNet's Search Video page.
• Google Scholar Allows you to hunt through academic journals and publications
• Google Advanced Scholar Search is the advanced version of Google's little-known scholar search which allows you to hunt through academic journals and publications. The advanced tool lets you search by author, by publication, by date or by subject area.
• Check out Google's Web Directory for a search by category.
• Google Glossary Google Labs -- the department that keeps coming up with improvements for Google -- offers you a peek at a new site they are developing. Need a quick definition, not just of a word but of a concept or an issue -- for example, "ozone layer" or PCBs? You get several links to the best web pages that give you a snapshot of the phrase, its meaning and context. An excellent quick reference guide.
• Google News - Personalized Google News, the best news search tool of the web, just got better. Now on the right hand side of the page you can customize it. Choose the sections you want to make prominent from a selected list or choose your own. Add a search term and get regular headlines on your favourite topics.
  
• Google Local Sometimes the information you're looking for is related to a particular place. Google Local locates web sites, neighborhood stores and services by searching billions of pages across the Web, then cross-checking those results with Yellow Pages data to pinpoint the local resources you want to find. Just include a US zip code or a Canadian postal code or the name of a town or city with your regular search terms. Your local results will appear at the top of the results page.For the moment, available only for the US and Canada.
• Google's My Search History Ever find what you're looking for with Google, then promptly forget what you found? This new service from Google Labs allows you to track all of your recent searches. Even if you forget what exact keywords you used, you can use the calendar feature to check the searches you did on a given day and navigate to any of them with a single click. Next to your search results, you'll see how many times you've visited a certain search result and the last time you viewed it. Better still, you can access this information from any computer you happen to be using. It's free, but you have to sign up for a Google account
• Google Suggest This new feature by Google finishes the spelling of keywords as you type them. What's neat is that it not only spells out various options which might give you ideas for other variations on your topic or word, it also tells you how many web page results you'll get with each variation of words or spelling.
• Google Print Still controversial because authors and publishers are worried about copyright infringement, this latest assault from the Google behemoth allows you to search the contents of books. You can often get excerpts from pages and links to local libraries or online stores to borrow or buy the book. In advanced search you can sdearch by author and date as well.

Plus try these software tools that enhance Google:

• GoogleAlert Tired of always returning to Google to check on the same topic over and over again? Worried about missing a new web page on a breaking story? This free and ingenious device runs daily Google searches for you and emails you whenever new results appear. You can run up to five separate searches.
• Soople.com A simple way to use all the advanced tricks of Google. Easy to fill out forms help you search by domain, by country, by language, by format and for phone numbers or financial information. Not for those who are already expert users of Google's Advanced Search, but handy for anyone else.