1. Some iGoogle themes
change with time..."Sweet Dreams" is a theme that turns from day to
night as you browse.
2. Click
"More" under "Try something new" to access a full list of
Google sites and new features.
3. "Custom Search"
enables you to create a branded Google search for your own site.
4. An active, useful
service missing from the list is "Personalised Search" – but you can
access it via www.google.com/psearch when you're logged in.
5. This page lists
searches you have recently made – and is divided into categories. Clicking
"pause" stops Google from recording your history.
6. Click
"Trends" to see the sites you visit most, the terms you enter most
often and links you've clicked on!
7. Personalised Search
also includes a bookmark facility – which enables you to save bookmarks online
and access them from anywhere.
8. You can add bookmarks
or access your bookmarks using the iGoogle Bookmarks gadget.
9. Did you know you can
search within your returned results? Scroll down to the bottom of the search
results page to find the link.
10. Search locally by
appending your postcode to the end of query. For example Indian food BA1 2BW
finds restaurants in Bath, with addresses and phone numbers!
11. Looking for a map?
Just add map to the end of your query, like this: Leeds map
12. Google finds images
just as easily and lists them at the top, when you add image to the end of your
search.
13. Google Image Search
recognises faces... add &imgtype=face to the end of the returned URL in the
location bar, then hit enter to filter out pictures that aren't people.
15. Keeping an eye on
stocks? Type stocks: followed by market ticker for the company and Google
returns the data from Google Finance.
16. Enter the carrier
and flight number in Google's main search box to return flight tracking
information.
17. What time is it?
Find out anywhere by typing time then the name of a place.
18. You may have noticed
Google suggests alternate spellings for search terms – that's the built in
spell checker!
19. You can invoke the
spell checker directly by using spell: followed by your keyword.
20. Click "I'm
Feeling Lucky" to be taken straight to the first page Google finds for
your keyword.
21. Enter a
statistics-based query like population of Britain into Google, and it will show
you the answer at the top of its results.
22. If your search has
none-English results, click "Translate this Page" to see it in
English.
23. You can search
foreign sites specifically by clicking "Language Tools", then
choosing which countries sites to translate your query to.
24. Other features on
the language tools page include a translator for blocks of text you can type or
cut and paste.
25. There's also a box
that you can enter a direct URL into, translating to the chosen language.
26. Near the language
tools link, you'll see the "Search Preferences". This handy page is
full of secret functionality.
27. You can specify
which languages Google returns results in, ticking as many (or few) boxes as
you like.
28. Google's Safe Search
protects you from explicit sexual content. You can choose to filter results
more stringently or switch it off completely.
29. Google's default of
10 results a page can be increased to up to 100 in Search Preferences, too.
30. You can also set
Google to open your search results in a new window.
31. Want to see what
others are searching for or improve your page rank? Go to
www.google.com/zeitgeist
32. Another useful,
experimental search can be found at www.google.com/trends – where you can find
the hottest search terms.
33. To compare the
performance of two or more terms, enter them into the trends search box
separated by commas.
34. Fancy searching
Google in Klingon? Go to www.google.com/intl/xx-klingon
35. Perhaps the Swedish
chef from the muppets is your role model instead? Check
www.google.com/intl/xx-bork
36. Type answer to life,
the universe and everything into Google. You may be surprised by the result...
It will also tell you
the number of horns on a unicorn
HAPPY GOOGLING !
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