Googlepedia : The Ultimate Google Resource

by Miller, Michael

• ISBN13: 9780789738202
• ISBN10: 0789738201
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-10-29
• Publisher: Que Pub

Summary

The ONE Google book for the serious Google user . . . bull; HEAVILY REVAMPED for this edition. bull; Content re-focused to address the higher-end, more techy user. bull; New information added for developers, complete with information on Google's various APIs and developer toolkits. Google's initial function was as an easy-to-use, effective search engine. But over the years Google has added a variety of features, services, tools, and businesses that make the Googleplex a one-stop-shop for virtually any web user. These services-from Gmail to Google Maps to the Picasa image editor to Blogger-enhance the Google experience, and are helping to ensure Google's dominance of the web services market over Microsoft, Yahoo!, and other competitors. Even the most casual web user accesses Google several times a day to conduct basic keyword searches. Serious web searchers and professional researchers know enough to make Google their online base of operations, and millions of users take advantage of Google's other non-search features. However, few of these users are aware of all the power and special features beyond behind the basic Google search page; all users can benefit from using Google to make more effective and efficient queries, and to perform a variety of web-based tasks. How do users move beyond the search box to harness all the power of Google? With Googlepedia: The Ultimate Google Resource. And now Googlepedia has been updated to cover all the latest Google developments, from the new Android 'Google phone' to the upcoming Google Health initiative. The book also features a new section specifically for developers, complete with information on Google's various APIs and developer toolkits. It has been revamped for the higher-end, more technical user.

Author Biography

Michael Miller has written more than 80 nonfiction how-to books over the past twenty years, including Que’s Photopedia: The Ultimate Digital Photography Resource, iPodpedia: The Ultimate iPod and iTunes Resource, Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Computer Basics, YouTube 4 You, and YouTube for Business. His 1999 book, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Online Search Secrets, was one of the first books to cover Google (then in beta testing). Mr. Miller has established a reputation for clearly explaining technical topics to non-technical readers, and for offering useful real-world advice about complicated topics. More information can be found at the author’s website, located at www.molehillgroup.com.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
Getting to Know Google	p. 1
Inside Google	p. 9
Getting to Know Google, Inc.	p. 10
Googlersquos Mission	p. 10
Googlersquos History	p. 11
Googlersquos Revenues	p. 14
Is Google a Search Company or an Advertising Company?	p. 15
Life at the Googleplex	p. 16
How Google Works	p. 17
How a Typical Search Works	p. 17
How Google Builds Its Databaseand Assembles Its Index	p. 18
How Google Ranks Its Results	p. 20
Matching Pages to Queries	p. 20
Understanding PageRank	p. 21
The Bottom Line
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts

Introduction IntroductionIn this chapterWhat's in This BookWho Can Use This BookHow to Use This BookThere's More Online...Get Ready to Google!I use Google every day. I've been using it every day since it first launched--before it launched, actually, when it still had the word "beta" on its home page. I use Google because it's easy to use, and because it delivers quality results.I'm not unusual, of course. Google is the most-used search site on the Web, and most people choose it for the same reason I do--ease-of-use and effectiveness. That's not news.What is news, for a lot of users, anyway, is that Google is more than just simple search. Most users don't know that they can fine-tune their search in a number of interesting ways, or that they can use Google to find pictures and news articles and compact discs, or that they can use the Google search box to perform mathematical calculations and conversions, or that Google can function as a spell checker or dictionary.It's also news to most users that Google offers a variety of products and services that have little or nothing to do with web search. Google runs the largest blogging community on the Web, hosts a must-see video-sharing community, distributes a top-notch picture-editing program, and provides free web-based email services. You might not get all this from looking at Google's attractively austere search page, but it's there, nonetheless.All these "hidden" features are what makes Google so interesting, at least to me, and are why I wrote this book. I wanted to show other users all the cool and useful stuff I've discovered in the Google family of sites, and to share some of the tips and tricks I've developed over the years for getting the most out of Google's various products and services.That's whatGooglepediais--a guide to everything that Google has to offer. It's not just web search (although I cover that, in much depth);Googlepediaalso covers Gmail and Google Maps and Picasa and every other application and service that has come out of Google's headquarters--as well as services that Google acquired along the way, such as Blogger and YouTube. There's plenty of how-to information, of course, but also a lot of tricks and advice that even the most experienced user will appreciate.I should note, however, that although I know a lot about what Google does and how it works, I'm not a Google insider. I don't work for Google, and had no official contact with Google while writing this book. That means I don't always take the company line; I'll tell you, as honestly as possible, when Google gets it right, when Google needs improvement, and when Google just plain sucks. (The company isn't perfect.) I'm not obligated to put on a positive face, which means you'll get the straight poop, good or bad. What's in This BookGoogle isn't just web search; the company offers a lot of different products and services, all of which I discuss somewhere in this book. Because of everything that Google does, this is a long book--46 chapters in all, organized into 10 major sections:Part I: Getting to Know Google provides an inside look at Google (the company and the technology), and then shows you how to use Google's various tools to personalize your computing and web browsing experience.Part II: Searching with Google is all about what Google does best--search for information. You'll learn the best ways to use Google's famous web search, as wel