An outstanding guide to the Google search engine...

Last summer, I had the surprise of receiving and reviewing the Google Pocket Guide. I thought it was for people who didn't know how to use a search engine, but was quickly corrected in that misconception. Google's power is phenominal. Because of that, I decided to read and review Google: The Missing Manual (O'Reilly). Once again, I continue to be amazed at what Google has put together. The service, and this book, are great.

This book is split out into five parts with the following chapters: Introduction; Google 101; Superior Searching; Googling Further: Images, News, and the Directory; Googling With Others: Groups and Answers; Shopping with Google; The Google Toolbar; More Cool Google Tools; Becoming A Search Result; Making Money With Google; Appendix: The Google Wide Web

Due to fewer space constraints than a Pocket Guide would have, Milstein and Dornfest can take more time to explain and illustrate the various features that make up the current Google universe. If you did nothing more than read the chapters on Google 101 and Superior Searching, you'd know more than the average Google user. You'd also give yourself a huge edge in finding relevant content on the web without slogging through thousands of results. Using their tips, you quickly pick up the separating line between searching science and searching art. All the remaining chapters go into features that are less known and used, but that will blow you away once you find them. Even if you already know about a feature, like Google images, the chapter can help you figure out how those image indexes are created, and how to use the Google search syntax to narrow down your results more quickly.

Another feature I really appreciate about this book is the instruction on how to manage and design your site to maximize it's Google interaction. The authors go into the robots.txt specification and how to either block off your entire site or just certain pages. In addition, they give you a great overview of how Google crawls and indexes pages, so you can make sure your site is Google-friendly for the best search results possible.

You may think you're a Google wizard, but chances are you're not tapping the full potential. With this book, you can learn how to turn Google into your second brain and personal research assistant.

Super Resource

Mostly when people think of Google, they think of a search engine that has become extremely popular and one that allows them to find topics they're searching for at a moment's notice. But Google is so much more, and this book shows exactly how much more. The goal of any search is to search effectively with as many relevant answers as possible to any query and that's what the book's first chapter discusses, from specific words and/or phrases to the famous "getting lucky." Chapter 2 builds on that with tricks for advanced searching, by refining your search, searching specific titles or text or even specific URL's. You can also search Google for images as well as text, just the thing if you're looking for specific clip art or a nice picture to send to a friend. You can also use Google to search for various net news articles, or even the Google directory which separates web sites into different categories, everything from Sports and Art to World Affairs and History and countless other topics.

There's also a chapter about Google answers, which is a service you do have to pay for, but may be worth it if a question you have still remains unanswered after an exhaustive search. Want to go shopping? Then Froogle may be for you, it lets you do searches on various products and their prices.

There's a lot of answers in this book to various questions about using Google and the many features the average Google user may not know about. This is a good book to have even if you only use Google rarely, but an absolute must to have if you're an avid Google user.

Recommended guide to Google

The super search engine has a multitude of features many don't know about. The authors do a first-rate job of describing its features and demonstrating how to use them.

When I start a search, Google is often the first place I go. Over time, I've learned of its new features and applyied tricks here and there. I have found the words to a song when I could only remember a handful of words. The song is no rock 'n roll hit or anything played on the radio.

Heck, save money with Google. A search engine that saves money? Indeed. Froogle is the word. Enter the item and it provides results with prices. I use it for comparison shopping to ensure I get the best deal. Thanks to Froogle, I located a hard to find item for my niece's birthday gift.

The book covers every trick I've learned and read about and taught me a few more. A call comes through, but the person doesn't leave a message. The CallerID shows the phone number and a company name, but it doesn't ring a bell. When I enter the phone number in Google, it provides three results (boy, talk about bad luck as a couple of companies who had the phone number went out of business) and I learn who called as the name that appeared the telecommunications company who provided the service.

The Google API (application program interface) is not covered although it is mentioned as a resource. The purpose of the book is to show how to use Google from a non-programming and non-techie perspective. The authors have accomplished the goal. They briefly cover using Google on Web sites as a search tool and for Ad Sense.

Those looking for hard-core Google tips using the API obviously won't find it in this book. This is a book for all the non-programmers and non-Web designers. Scanning the book takes little time and it's an excellent reference since it's well organized in five parts: techniques, unknown Google, search tools, Google for Webmaster, and an appendix with resources. Also extra nice is the authors' use of other browsers besides Internet Explorer when discussing tools.

One of the reasons the company is popular is for its simplicity. Its home page has hardly anything other than its logo and a search box. The book continues the theme by keeping it simple.