Google

Twenty-one of the best sites about the search engine Google. Know of another site that should be listed here? Leave your suggestion at the bottom of this page.

1. Google - For those too lazy to type it into their browser. The queen bee of search engines. (www.google.com)

2. Google News - Google aggregates headlines from thousands of news sources and allows you to search for the latest articles on topics of interest to you. (news.google.com)

3. The Official Google Blog - “Insight from Googlers into [their] products, technology, and the Google culture.” Updated most weekdays. (googleblog.blogspot.com)

4. Vista Will Get Easier Access to Google’s Desktop Search - Despite the headline, this June 21, 2007 article is actually about Microsoft giving users of its Windows Vista operating system a greater ability to use Google’s desktop search product instead of Microsoft’s default desktop search. It wasn’t Microsoft being nice—Google complained to the government that Microsoft was violating an earlier agreement to not hinder rival software from working correctly on Microsoft’s operating systems. (www.usatoday.com)

5. Google Image Search - Search for pictures only. (images.google.com)

6. Add Your URL to Google - While Google’s main method of adding sites into its index is by finding links to new sites via sites already in its index, if your site is new and not linked elsewhere, you can try to speed the process by using this form to tell Google the URL to add. (www.google.com)

7. Google Desktop - Downloadable tool that allows you to keep an eye on your favorite Web sites, get the current weather, search your computer, and really whatever else you like to have close at hand, all on your computer’s desktop. (desktop.google.com)

8. Google Maps - Maps the whole United States via traditional mapping style, satellite imagery, or a hybrid of both. (maps.google.com)

9. Google Inc Stock Quote - Get the current stock price for Google (ticker symbol: GOOG), historical price quotes, latest news headlines about the company and the tech industry in general, company profile, insider trades, more. (www.marketwatch.com)

10. Learning from Microsoft’s Error, Google Builds a Lobbying Engine - January 20, 2007 article about Google putting a team of lobbyists in Washington, D.C. to lobby for the company’s interests—something Microsoft never did until after it was hit by antitrust allegations. (www.washingtonpost.com)

11. Google Earth - Search the whole earth, via satellite photos. Find your home! (earth.google.com)

12. Google Toolbar - Downloaded browser tool allows you to search Google instantly from within your browser, block Web page pop-ups, check the PageRank of Web pages you visit, remember form information, and other features. (toolbar.google.com)

13. Google Talk - Google’s instant messaging and Internet calling product, in Beta and open to Gmail users only. (www.google.com)

14. Google Groups - Web site allows users to create password-protected groups to bring people together to convey information or discuss issues of importance to the group, whether the people are from formal organizations or simply individuals interested in a similar topic. (groups.google.com)

15. Google to Acquire YouTube for $1.65 Billion in Stock - October 9, 2006 official press release from Google announcing it has acquired video sharing service YouTube. (www.google.com)

16. Google Has Acquired YouTube - Discussion of Google’s October 9, 2006 announcement that it has acquired video sharing service YouTube for $1.65 billion in Google stock. Says Yahoo was also negotiating for YouTube until near the end. Also includes details from the Google/YouTube conference call with reporters. (www.techcrunch.com)

17. First Blush on GooTube - Conference Call - John Battelle’s Searchblog offers an ongoing report on the questiona and answers given during the October 9, 2006 Google / YouTube conference call with reporters. (battellemedia.com)

18. Google Buys YouTube - Joseph Scott wonders if Google’s purchase of YouTube was as much a defensive maneuver against Yahoo! and Microsoft as it was a deal Google desired for its own purposes. (joseph.randomnetworks.com)

19. The Rumors Are True - David Brunelle discusses the Catch-22 of buying YouTube — Google will need to clean up the copyrighted material that appears on the site to avoid lawsuits, but it’s the copyrighted material that so many people go to YouTube for in the first place. (davidbrunelle.com)

20. Google Copies Your Hard Drive - Government Smiles in Anticipation - February 9, 2006 post from the Electronic Frontier Foundation warning Google users not to download Google Desktop due to privacy concerns, specifically from the “Search Across Computers” feature.

21. Google Announces Social Search Products - Coverage by Niall Kennedy of the May 10, 2006 Google Press Day, where new features Google Trends, Google Co-op and Google Notebook are first introduced. (www.niallkennedy.com)