Entries Tagged 'Google Products' ↓

If you like experiments and is a Blogger fan, you might want to participate in the usability studies that Google conduct to improve the user experience part of this Google product.

What’s in it for you? Please read the title again.

Yes. You can earn from $75 to $100 just by using Blogger.

Will it involve electrodes getting attached to your body? Check it out at the FAQ.

Sign up here and read more about this gig here.

Tags: Blogger, user experience, Google experiment

Despite numerous hype on security threats, the much controversial purchase of DoubleClick by Google has pushed through and closed at a $3.1 billion deal, about twice as much as the amount Google placed to purchase Youtube.com in the previous year. Google did this to expand their expertise in the field of display advertisements and as a strategy to keep from rival Microsoft to seize the benefits DoubleClick gives its highest bidder.

Over the years, investors in Google have been happily gaining rewarding dividends in its success in search results and advertisements which bring a huge chunk of Google’s revenue. Just like any thriving company, Google refused to rest in its laurels and past glories when it decided to take DoubleClick under its wing under a very considerable cost.

With this move, Google has definitely secured its potential in expanding itself in the business of being one of the most reliable online businesses in the world, and left little room for the likes of Microsoft and Yahoo to innovate something equally smart and creative.

Doubleclick is the leading digital display advertisement management company in the world. Its combination with Google’s roster of services and products spelled doom for other companies trying to get a bigger share of the market. Since this merger proves to be ultra-threatening to Google’s rivals, there have also been complaints filed on the perspective of anti-trust nuances and security of online users worldwide. However, the potentials of Google and Doubleclick to create a more user-friendly and effective system is something worth risking and watching out for.

Here’s a video of Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt about the DoubleClick acquisition.

Tags: Google acquisition, DoubleClick, Eric Schmidt

For those who have created custom search engines, here are some URL pattern (the method for specifying sites and pages to include in a search engine) info that the Google team has provided to further your knowledge on how to maximize this feature:

The simplest type of pattern is the URL of a specific page. You can use an asterisk (or star, in techie vernacular) as a wild card in your pattern to specify a swath of URLs by identifying their common characters. Here’s how it works: rather than add each page of www.site.com to your search engine, you can merely add www.site.com/* and we will include every URL that begins with www.site.com. Similarly, rather than individually adding each subdomain of site.com, you can use the star to include them all: *.site.com will apply to www.site.com, server.site.com, etc.

Another way to use patterns is to identify and distill common characters among a set of pages you’d like to include in your index. For example, if I know that all car review pages on my favorite consumer reviews site contain the words ‘car’ and ‘reviews’ in the URL, I can create the pattern www.reviewsite.com/*reviews*cars and include these pages. (I just need to be careful that only the pages I want contain these terms, or I may include more than I bargained for.) These types of patterns are especially useful when creating search refinements.

More of these tips on star or asterisk use in URL Patterns.

Simply Google an oh-so simple page where all of the Google products and services can all be accessed. All the accounts, the innumerable blogs for the wide variety of services Google provides, and downloads are all in one page! No more googling this time.

According to its creator, Chris McEvoy, it was my attempt to expose the hidden google information architecture. Since then I have been keeping the page up to date and have just added a co.uk version, so it seems like a good time to review the past year for Simply Google.

One Read/Write Web (where I’ve learned about Simply Google) reader, it’s ugly but damn useful. So give it a try.

And if you agree with the useful part, yeah, don’t forget to bookmark it.

Lost and confused? Never has finding an address been so easy, thanks to Google Earth. Your days of pulling over to ask for directions are probably gone for good.

Google Earth can help you find your way, wherever you are. Here’s how:

First, open your computer or mobile phone and access Google Earth on the internet. Click the tab that indicates ‘Directions’. This will give you a preview of what route you should take, along with the precise directions how to get there.

Next, type your starting location or address and your ending location. Click ‘Search’ and Google Earth will calculate your directions. When you hit ‘Play’, Google will ‘fly’ you over the roads and highways and show you the route.

If the location is already displayed on the screen, simply click on the placemark, where a bubble will appear containing information. If this is the location you’re going to, simply click the button ‘To here’. Next, simply type the address where you’re coming from.

If your chosen location is where you will be traveling from to go to another location, click on the ‘From here’ button. Enter the address of your destination in the ‘End address’ box. Once you click on the ‘Search’ button, Google Earth will show a map of your route along with detailed directions.

In case the destination you provided is not found, Google will inform you that the search ‘returned no results’. That means you will have to provide an alternative address to approximate a location and find your way.

Google launched yet another blog, which is called Google Lat Long Blog , aka “geo” blog. The objectives of this blog is to inform Google followers about the following Google services:

- Local Business Center

- Google Earth

- Google Maps

- Google APIs

Its first blog post entitled A New World Unfolding highlighted My Maps, which facilitates creation of a custom map, and geo search, the ability to acquire all geographical info.

via BloggersBlog

Google has definitely redefined online user experience with its myriad of products that help online users all over the world have a better surfing experience in the Internet. Here are the ten products which help Google users gain more productivity in their online endeavors, be it simply searching for info, communication, project management, or online collaboration.

1.Google Search and Toolbar: The most famous search engine also comes with a built in calculator function. With the Google search box and a downloadable toolbar with which you can conveniently have it even while surfing in other websites, you can find just about anything under the sun.

2.Google Calendar: The Calendar function of Google allows its users to be able to make proper correspondence and appointments. When synchronized with other Google applications, it makes one’s online experience more organized and less cluttered. Continue reading →