By Garrett Wasny

Google processes about 200 million queries every day, yet surprisingly few users ever venture into the site any deeper than its main page. “Most Web searchers only use a tiny fraction of Google’s features,” said Nancy Blachman, author of How to Do Everything with Google. “When they do learn more about its full capabilities, most are totally surprised — even experienced Web users who think they know it all,” she said. “Google’s search services extend far beyond the simple, easy-to-use Google.com interface,” said Matt Cutts, a software engineer with Google in Mountain View, Calif. From special browser plug-ins to experimental Web-scanning prototypes to e-mail alerts, Google is teeming with little-known utilities that can help users find online information easier and faster.

WHERE TO START
Cutts said the best leaping-in point is the Advanced Search section.

Users are presented with a variety of specialized search options, including the ability to specify in which of 35 languages Google should return search results, and date restricts which narrow searches based on how recently a Web page has been updated. Users even have the option of restricting searches to specific file types, such as Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel and Word files, Adobe PDF files and others. “The restricts will often reduce the number of search results tenfold, and dramatically improve the accuracy of your Web searches,” said Chris Sherman, associate editor of Search Engine Watch, a well-known industry e-zine. The Google Services and Tools section houses another parcel of search utilities. Topping the list is Froogle, an application which locates stores that sell the items you want to find and tells you where you can make your purchases. Want the latest news? Google News culls information from approximately 4,500 news sources worldwide and provides continuous updates. It is offered in tandem with Google News Alerts, which sends subscribers free e-mails when news articles that match specified topics appear online. “Google News and News Alerts are both excellent,” said Tara Calishain, co-author of Google Hacks, a best-selling book on the search service. “New feeds are being continually added, and the services keep evolving.” If users are more interested in research than in online shopping and news gathering, there’s Google Answers, through which experienced Internet researchers can be hired. For a fee starting at US$2.50, the researcher will answer practically any question, and will usually respond within 24 hours. “I was amazingly satisfied with the Google Answers service,” Blachman said. “For US$25 dollars they proofread an entire manuscript I had written.”

WHERE TO CONTINUE
A long list of other useful tools is available at the Google Features page. Good stuff here includes:

¦ A full-function calculator. Simply type your numbers into the Google search box, hit Enter and the tough stuff is done for you. The calculator can handle basic arithmetic, more complicated math, units of measure and conversions and physical constants.

¦ Google’s Search By Number feature recognizes the alphanumeric pattern for FedEx, UPS and USPS (United States Postal Service) tracking numbers, vehicle ID numbers, U.S. patent numbers, UPC (Universal Product Codes) numbers, area codes, and even FCC (Federal Communications Commission) equipment IDs and FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) airplane reservation numbers. Enter any of these and Google will deliver information about the codes. For example, you can type in a FedEx tracking number to get the latest information on your package.

EMERGING GOOGLE
Adventurous types will get a kick out of Google Labs, a showcase for Web search prototypes and projects in development by Google engineers. These include Voice Search, which allows you to search Google by telephone; Google Compute, which enables you to donate your computer’s idle time to scientific research; and Search By Location, which allows you to restrict a Web search to a specific area. “Google Labs is cute,” Blachman said, “but I don’t use it regularly.” Sherman agreed. “While the prototypes are cool, Google has much more advanced search applications than they’re letting on, and they’re not about to publicly display their buried treasures until they’re good and ready.” Still more Google features and services are available at Google Help Central. These include the Google Web Directory, a categorized Web listing; Google AdWords, a text ad service; and Google Zeitgeist, a report on Google search patterns and trends.

OUTSIDE GOOGLE
Scores of third-party applications also provide supplemental utilities and information on Google. The Google Guide lists applications that range from the useful to the absurd. The best of the lot is the GoogleGuide, a widely praised online tutorial by Nancy Blachman on how to use Google. Although Google offers its own online tutorials, they are surprisingly brief and lacklustre, while Blachman’s GoogleGuide is far more comprehensive. Blachman, who is married to a Google engineer, reported that she has approached Google several times to inquire if they’d be interested in linking to her online guide, but the Mountain View-based search service has so far passed on her offer. Other valuable utilities include:

¦ GoogleAlert, which runs daily personalized Google searches for users and sends e-mails when new results appear.

¦ Google Indicateur, an online library of Google-related information that includes hard-to-find reports on Google patents, statistics and the “Google Dance,” the index update of the Google search engine that takes place every month or so.

¦ The Google Ultimate Interface, which integrates all of Google’s advanced search features into one convenient search page.

¦ Anacubis Google-enabled Visual Search, which delivers Google results in the form of animated mind maps and search visualizations.

¦ Something Awful, a collection of spoof and parody Google logos produced by a variety of artists.

GOOGLE COMPETITION
With so many search features, Google might appear to be in an unbeatable position at the top of the online search industry. That’s not the case. “In recent years, Google has completely dominated our annual search service awards as determined by our readers and search experts,” said Sherman of Search Engine Watch. “But (selecting a winner) this past year was the toughest decision we’ve had to make. Some of the other search services — most notably Yahoo! and Ask Jeeves — have dramatically improved.” In the next year or two, Sherman said he wouldn’t be surprised if another search service beats out Google and wins the overall search service award.

If the existing competition wasn’t fierce enough, a new monster is about to enter the search service industry: Microsoft. In 2004, Microsoft is expected to roll out its own new search technology, and integrate it into future versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system and Internet Explorer Web browser. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer recently admitted during a speech that his company did not pursue search technology as aggressively as it should have. Microsoft is, however, moving to catch up, Ballmer said. The company has hired a number of search software experts and Ballmer said this development team will likely deliver its first products within the next 12 months.

Ballmer, however, did not address the recent decision by European antitrust regulators to mandate significant changes in the way Microsoft designs its software. This could impede the company’s ability to add new features, such as search, to upcoming versions of Windows.

Will Google become another Netscape, losing out to Redmond in the quest for computing supremacy? We’ll soon find out, but regardless it’s worth your while to spend some time poking around in Google’s more obscure and interesting functions.

Here are all the various functions and engines mentioned in the story:
Advanced Search http://www.google.com/advanced_search
Anacubis http://www.anacubis.com/googledemo/google/index.asp
Google Answers http://answers.google.com/answers
GoogleAlert http://www.googlealert.com
Google Features http://www.google.com/help/features.html
Google Indicateur http://google.indicateur.comGoogle
Guide: http://www.googleguide.com
Google Help Central http://www.google.com/help/index.html
Google Labs http://labs.google.comGoogle
News Alerts http://www.google.com/newsalerts
Google Services and Tools http://www.google.com/options/
Google Ultimate Interface http://www.faganfinder.com/google.html
Something Awful http://www.somethingawful.com