April 2001

Just when it seemed that all search engines were about the same, Google came along and upped the standard. It quickly became the favorite of many people because of its uncanny ability to find the sites most relevant to your needs. It did this, in part, by simply listing first those sites with the most links to them, figuring that they were the best.

And Google just keeps raising the standard. It continues to add useful features while maintaining its fast, efficient, and clean interface. Recently Google added a test version of discussion group searching. DejaNews had been the first to begin collecting all the messages posted to the tens of thousands of Usenet discussion groups. It was a huge breakthrough and a real boon to finding certain kinds of information. Whenever I have a computer problem, for example, or want to buy some new equipment, I know that it's been discussed online and can quickly find the old messages and read them.

After a while, DejaNews kind of lost interest in their database of discussions, changed their site name, and refocused their content. So it was great news when Google purchased the discussion group database and put it on their site. Because it's still a "beta" version, you won't find a link from the main page. You can find Google Groups here: <http://groups.google.com/>.

Like everything else Google does, this area is classy and effective. You can use the advanced search to focus your search criteria and to target specific groups and specific dates.

Google also offers a directory of topics that lets you browse the discussions. I almost hesitate to mention it though, because everything is here--the crude as well as the useful. But I guess that's typical of the Internet itself, and mature people find the best and ignore the rest.

Google also now offers its interface in a range of different languages. And you can have Google translate the results of your searches into other languages. Another feature lets you search only for pages in a specific language. You can set all these options by clicking the "preferences" link by the search window.

Another feature launched recently is PhoneBook. You can use their search engine to find someone's phone number. You simply enter someone's name into the search engine, along with the abbreviation of the state where they reside, and it will give you that person's phone directory listing if it's available and will put it at the top of the search results. If you don't want your phone number listed, Google offers a form that you can use to remove it.

Add to all this Google's excellent directory, and you have a winner.

© 2001 by Jim Karpen, Ph.D