Appendix A. Google Tools and Services

A. Google Tools and Services

Google isn't a single site; it's a family of tools and services. Here's a quick list of its most important services and tools and where to find them.

[Pages 328 - 329]

Service	What It Is	URL
Apple-specific search	Search for anything related to Apple products	www.google.com/mac
Blogger	Google's blogging service	www.blogger.com
BSD-specific search	Search for anything to do with Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), a version of the Unix operating system	www.google.com/bsd
Froogle	Find bargains online	www.froogle.com
Gmail	Google's email service	www.gmail.com
Google Alerts	Get news and search results via email	www.google.com/alerts
Google Answers	For-pay service for getting answers to questions	http://answers.google.com/answers
Google Blog Search	Search through blogs	http://blogsearch.google.com
Google Book Search	Search through the contents of books	http://books.google.com or http://print.google.com
Google Catalogs	Online versions of shopping catalogs	http://catalogs.google.com
Google Desktop	Use the power of Google to search your PC	http://desktop.google.com
Google Directory	Browse the Web by category	www.google.com/dirhp
Google Earth	Travel in 3D around the world	http://earth.google.com
Google Groups	Search through discussion boards, called newsgroups, and set up newsgroups of your own	http://groups.google.com
Google Help Center	Page with links to dozens of specialized Google search sites	www.google.com/help/features.html
Google Image Search	Search for images	http://images.google.com
Google Labs	Services and features Google is working on	http://labs.google.com
Google Language Tools	Translate web pages and text between languages	www.google.com/language_tools
Google Local	Get maps, directions, and local information	http://maps.google.com
Google News	News-tracking site	http://news.google.com
Google Reader	Google's RSS reader	www.google.com/reader
Google Scholar	Search through scholarly journals	http://scholar.google.com
Google Software Downloads	Central location for downloading Google tools	www.google.com/downloads
Google Talk	Google's instant messaging program	www.google.com/talk
Google Toolbar	Puts Google features on your browser's toolbar	http://toolbar.google.com
Google University Search	Search through university websites	www.google.com/options/universities.html
Google Video	Search and display news and other videos	http://video.google.com
Google Zeitgeist	List of most popular Google search terms	www.google.com/zeitgeist
Linux-specific search	Search for anything to do with Linux	www.google.com/linux
Microsoft-specific search	Search for anything related to Microsoft products	www.google.com/microsoft
Picasa	Google's downloadable image-management software	www.picasa.com

Tip

Google Labs has a new feature called Google Suggest. Go to http://www.google.com/webhp?complete=1&hl=en and start typing a search term. As you type, Google pops up a list of suggested matches from which you can choose. Note that at press time, this feature was in Google Labs, so it might or might not be available long term.