Google for Dummies (Paperback)

by Brad Hill (Author) "You're about to embark on an adventure that will stimulate your mind and gratify the most urgent desires of your soul..." (more)
Key Phrases: exact phrase operator, standard search operators, intitle operator, Google Compute, Home Search, Google Catalogs (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
* Google is the world's most popular search engine, with more than 150 million queries per day and more than fourteen million users per week
* Author Brad Hill, frequently consulted in media coverage of the Internet, will take readers "under the hood"
* Illuminates dozens of packaged Google tools that significantly extend Web searching
* Enables more technical readers to install and use the Google API to develop Web querying capabilities for their own programs
* Includes extensive coverage of Blogger, the popular Web log service recently acquired by Google

From the Back Cover
Get Googling and improve your search for Web fulfillment

Find search shortcuts, great add-on tools, and ways you can customize your Google

Sure, you know it searches, but all the other things Google can do will leave you, well, google-eyed. So journey into the heart of Google and then to its outer limits with this friendly guide! Discover how you can use Google to get the news, go shopping, build your business, play games, find phone numbers, and even go blogging.

The Dummies Way

• Explanations in plain English
• "Get in, get out" information
• Icons and other navigational aids
• Tear-out cheat sheet
• Top ten lists
• A dash of humor and fun

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Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (September 26, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764544209
• ISBN-13: 978-0764544200
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #308,328 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Google for Dummies, November 6, 2003

By A Customer

Part how-to and part reference, Google for Dummies is Brad Hill's newest title in the For Dummies series. Hill, whose Internet Searching For Dummies has undergone three updates, says that if he does another, it will contain the single sentence "Go to Google." He cites Google's 36-word home-page design, its accuracy and ability to almost read minds, and its behind-the-scenes offerings.

Google lets you access an enormous images database, as well as news, directories, and groups, get instant stock quotes, search pages of thousands of mail-order catalogues, look up words and translate text, find someone's phone number or address, search in only the titles of web pages, play Google games, navigate search results using keys rather than the mouse, become an expert at specialty searches, get answers with Google's for-pay research service, and try out Google Labs, an open testing area.

Want to start your own weblog? Google helps you do it for free on its Blogger.com site.

For Dummies fans know you will find concise information laced with humor - lots of it, loads of icons and other navigational aids, a tear-out cheat sheet that highlights the best features and shortcuts, and lists of tips. You're guaranteed to chuckle when you translate your favorite English words into these languages: Elmer Fudd, Pig Latin, Hacker, Interlingua, and Klingon.

The downside is learning that the Google Toolbar, which the author says is guaranteed to change your life by streamlining and consolidating search abilities, is not available to Mac users. You won't be able to use the pop-up ad blocker or practice one-click blog posting from the Google Toolbar. This book may contain more about Google than you ever wanted or needed to know, and it's not cheap. But if you want to discover all the nuances of Google, which daily searches over 200 million queries in 90 languages and has better brand recognition than Coca-Cola and Starbucks, you'll want to own this title.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Harnessing the power!, October 13, 2003

By A Customer

Fantastic! This book is great for anyone who wants to harness the power of the Internet. I would buy it again tomorrow and will probably purchase a copy for a college student I know for Christmas. Kind of leaves you asking why anyone would use any other search engine. As a small business owner, I particularly appreciated the chapters on getting listed in searches and using AdWords to drive traffic to your site.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Google is more amazing than I thought, September 27, 2003

By A Customer

Wow! I heard that Google could do alot, but I had no idea there was this much. This book is enlightening! I looked at the Google Hacks book, but couldn't understand all the programming. This book has tricks that anyone can do, like searching government sites and using special words to find better sites. I never heard of Froogle before, or some of the other services that are kind of hidden. I feel like I'm becoming a power user, and the book is funny, too. Highly recommended! It's the kind of book where you can learn a little at a time, and keep coming back to it for more.