Google was busy yesterday as they unveiled four new online services which are designed to advance the state of the art in search. Google Co-op, Google Desktop 4 and Google Trends are all live now, while Google Notebook will be live starting next week.
Google Co-op, said the top ranked search engine company, is a Web based community search effort which allows users to label web pages relevant to their areas of expertise or create specialized links to which one can subscribe. Once a subscription has been filed by an interested party, all of the content related to that subscription is added to the user’s search results for relevant queries.
Google Desktop 4 is the latest beta version of the company’s popular desktop search software. The newest feature in this version is the introduction of Google Gadgets, mini-applications which sit on user’s desktops and deliver personalized information such as weather and news. Other highlighted features include the ability to access settings from other computers, access other Google services from the desktop, manually re-index computers, remove deleted files from search results and an option to let network administrators disable Search Across Computers by blocking access to a specific URL.
Google Trends builds on the Google Zeitgeist by helping users find facts and trends related to Google usage around the world and letting them see both how popular a particular search term has been on Google over time as well as the relevant news articles that ran on that subject. Google Notebook, when it launches next week, is a browser tool which will let users clip text, images, and links from the pages they’re browsing. A self-described interactive scratch pad for every Website a user visits, Google Notebook will also offer an option to let its contents be made public so it can be shared with others.
“Google Co-op and the other new services announced today combine the power of Google’s technology with the context, knowledge, and unique expertise of individuals,” said Jonathan Rosenberg, senior vice president, Product Management, Google Inc, in a statement. “As a result, users can find the information they are looking for — no matter how specialized or specific — faster than ever.”
