Expert help from Google Answers

Expert help from Google Answers

by: Jakob Jelling

Web users turn to search engines for answers to their questions. This is usually done through various levels of searching the engineกs database. Sometimes though, no matter how hard they try, searchers can’t find the information they need. Maybe they’re not familiar with how to narrow and focus searches, or they may not have enough background in the subject they’re researching to recognize the answer they need. Google Answers offers a solution.

With Google Answers, you hire an experienced researcher or specialist in your field of inquiry to provide answers to your questions. In a sense, this process works much like bidding on an item at eBay or hiring work done through a freelancer web site. You will create a Google Answers profile, a nickname, enter your credit card information, and when you post your questions, you specify how much you’re willing to pay for answers and an expiration date for replies.

There is a 50 cent per question listing fee, and your payment offer for an answer can range from $2.00 to $200.00 currently. Your offered price needs to be high enough to justify and compensate the time a Google researcher will spend finding an answer. Researchers receive 75% of your offered fee, and Google receives the remainder to help support the Google Answers service. Once you receive an answer, your credit card will be charged the offer amount you made for that answer.

Previously asked questions and answers are posted, searchable, and freely available at the Google Answers site. Other users may make comments on the questions and answers, to help clarify the information you receive.

Google Answers isn’t magic. They can’t answer unanswerable questions, and they won’t provide medical, legal, or financial advice. But for other tough questions that you just can’t find an answer for on your own, Google Answers may be, well, the answer!

By Jakob Jelling

http://www.sitetube.com

About The Author

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.sitetube.com. Visit his website for the latest on planning, building, promoting and maintaining websites.

This article was posted on September 29, 2004

by Jakob Jelling

Tops In Toolbars?

Tops In Toolbars?

by: Jakob Jelling

Most internet marketers are aware of, and probably use, the Google Toolbar. After all, it has been the only indicator of Googleกs PageRank number that has been assigned to a given web page. Whether the number is accurate, important, or even updated any more is a matter of debate on the marketing forums. But the only feature that was really worthwhile for more casual surfers, other than being able to use the Google search box directly, was the popup window blocker feature, which oddly enough, is the least favorite feature of many an internet marketer. But for many surfers now, the Yahoo Toolbar may well be a better choice. A 3 megabyte download for computers running Windows 98 or higher and Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher, the Yahoo Toolbar not only offers greater interactivity with Yahoo and My Yahoo, but now offers some benefits for your PC as well.

In addition, to the Search Yahoo box and quick access to Yahoo News, email, and bookmarks, the Yahoo Toolbar offers a PopUp blocker, and perhaps even more importantly for many surfers these days, AntiSpy, to detect and remove spyware from the userกs PC. Yahoo even has an antispyware community that is tied in with the AntiSpy software on the Yahoo Toolbar.

Many people prefer Google for search, feeling that it offers better results with fewer กspammyก sites while Yahoo search is going through a rebirth. However, many surfers prefer the amazing My Yahoo portal, that offers email, calendar, notes, and multiple news and information pages that you can customize just about any way you like. Since it offers such quick and easy access to My Yahoo, in addition to a PopUp Blocker and AntiSpy, the Yahoo Toolbar may be worthy of a place on your browser controls. Even if it means you have to type in the name of your favorite search engine!

By Jakob Jelling

http://www.sitetube.com

About The Author

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.sitetube.com. Visit his website for the latest on planning, building, promoting and maintaining websites.

This article was posted on October 11, 2004

by Jakob Jelling

To The Next Level With Google Groups 2

To The Next Level With Google Groups 2

by: Jakob Jelling

If you haven’t visited the Google Labs lately, they have released a beta of Google Groups 2 that you may want to check out. This is Googleกs answer to Yahoo Groups, and theyกve added some new features to make their service more useful.

For those who don’t know, such groups allow anyone to easily and quickly start their own announcement lists and discussion forums. There is no need to install scripts or anything else on a web site, and no technical knowledge beyond email and posting to a discussion board is needed. If you want, you can use Google Groups to post to and read Usenet postings as well.

Of course, nothing is truly free, and Google Groups is no different. In exchange for making the technology available to host your group, Google displays relevant text ads on your groupกs home page on Google. ‘relevantก is determined by the content of your Google Group discussions. This is the same type of technology used by Google to display AdSense advertising on web sites and relevant text advertising on their free Gmail email service.

The process to create a group is fast and painless. Just create your groupกs name and email address, and invite your members to join. You are able to make your group either public or private, and Google has provided a new interface so that you can see your groupกs postings sorted any of several different ways. The Beta 2 Google Groups also features dynamic conversations, with both Usenet and mailing list postings created within 10 seconds, and indexed within 10 minutes from post.

Families, old college running buddies, online communities, and many others may find benefit in using Google Groups, and the Beta 2 release is worth a try.

By Jakob Jelling

http://www.sitetube.com

About The Author

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.sitetube.com. Visit his website for the latest on planning, building, promoting and maintaining websites.

This article was posted on September 14, 2004

by Jakob Jelling

Google Tests Expanded Search To Include Printed Wo

Google Tests Expanded Search To Include Printed Works

by: Jakob Jelling

Google Labs is currently testing Google Print, which returns results from within scanned printed books along with Googleกs standard web search results. The searcher doesn’t have to do anything special the printed work results are already included in the Google database. Searchers have the option of narrowing their search by including, for example, the word กbookก in their search terms. For example, a search on กhome repairก might return a variety of web sites, online merchants, etc., while changing the search to กhome repair bookก will help filter the results to include more material scanned directly from books.

Publishers don’t want their entire books read online of course, so Google limits the number of pages a single user may read at any one time. A user can see the page where their search was found, plus they can go two pages forward and two pages backward from their original result page. Google provides links to merchants where the book can be purchased. Google earns no revenue from book purchases, but they do display their contextual advertising within the Google Print results, and they share this with participating publishers.

Once youกve found your search terms in a book, you can then enter additional search terms that will be limited to the book itself, rather than the entire web. Googleกs selection includes both fiction and nonfiction, technical reference and professional books, textbooks, and more.

Since Google Print is currently in testing, a searcher won’t necessarily find results from every book they expect to see. As the program grows, Google has indicated they will continue to add books to their searchable database. Publishers who want to participate can do so for free.

By Jakob Jelling

http://www.sitetube.com

About The Author

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.sitetube.com. Visit his website for the latest on planning, building, promoting and maintaining websites.

This article was posted on November 08, 2004

by Jakob Jelling

Shopping from your cell phone with Froogle Wireles

Shopping from your cell phone with Froogle Wireless

by: Jakob Jelling

Many surfers already know about Froogle, Googleกs shopping portal that is still in beta testing. Google has now expanded their Froogle service so that it is available on WMLenabled cellular phones. Most newer cell phones that can connect to the Internet have this capability.

Users just need to enter wml.froogle.com in their cell phone browser, enter their product search terms, and scroll through results to find what they’re looking for. The biggest advantage of this Froogle Wireless feature for consumers is the ability to comparison shop, no matter where they are.

Most people who have shopped on the Internet know you can often find significantly lower prices online if you are willing to wait for shipment. The problem in the past was that it was difficult to comparison shop between virtual merchants and brick & mortar stores.

As an example, when most of us are shopping at our local computer store, and notice they have blank CDs on sale, our first instinct is to stock up because the price looks so good by comparison to their regular price. But with an Internetready cell phone and Froogle Wireless, you would be able to search Froogle right from the store, and compare blank CD prices from online merchants with the sale price at the store. Taking into account shipping costs, whether you need the CDs immediately, and local sales taxes, you can then make an informed decision as to the true value of the sale price.

Since Froogle and Froogle Wireless are both in beta testing, some nicetohave features such as sorting by price aren’t yet available. This can be a problem when using a slower connection over a cell phone, but keep an eye out for improvements Froogle Wireless will likely help you save money in realtime very soon!

By Jakob Jelling

http://www.sitetube.com

About The Author

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.sitetube.com. Visit his website for the latest on planning, building, promoting and maintaining websites.

This article was posted on September 29, 2004

by Jakob Jelling

Get Personal With Google

Get Personal With Google

by: Jakob Jelling

Anyone whoกs been on the net any time at all knows that Google has been the search engine of choice for many for a while now. Whether that continues remains to be seen, but for now, with MSN still in development and Yahoo going through some growing pains, many still feel that Google is the leader. As such, itกs worth dropping in to the Google Labs every now and then to see whatกs going on there.

For example, Googleกs Personalized search offers a fun and useful way for searchers to interact with part of the mysterious and closelyguarded Google search algorithm. You can set a search profile thatกs stored as a cookie on your computer. The easytouse Google profile interface allows you to pick specific topics that interest you. Once chosen and saved, you can then do a search from the Personalized search page. At first, youกll see normal Google results. But at the top of the page is a slider bar, and by moving this to the right, those same search results will be dynamically altered to narrow in to focus on your personalization settings.

For example, a standard search for ‘restaurantsก (without the quotes), will return several large, wellknown sites among the first 5 results. These include restaurants.com, zagat.com, restaurantrow.com, the official Subway corporate site, and the Yahoo restaurants directory. But letกs say youกve selected Texas as a geographic area of interest in your personalization profile. Move the personalization slide all the way to the right on the same search, and now the top 5 results are from guidelive.com, Landrysseafood.com, Houston Citysearch, and Austin360, followed by restaurants.com. Each of your personalized results are marked with small spheres of red, blue, and yellow.

There are many personalization topics to choose from, including Arts, Business, Computers, Health, and many other categories which can be further narrowed.

By Jakob Jelling

http://www.sitetube.com

About The Author

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.sitetube.com. Visit his website for the latest on planning, building, promoting and maintaining websites.

This article was posted on September 14, 2004

by Jakob Jelling

The Opera Alternative

The Opera Alternative

by: Jakob Jelling

Security flaws have long plagued Internet Explorer (IE), the marketdominating web browser from Microsoft. IE won the early browser wars, not only because it was free and bundled with Windows, but because it had some features and capabilities that its only real competitor, Netscape, didn’t have. But the behindthescenes programming that makes those features possible is the very coding that also leaves wide gaps in IEกs defenses against viruses and malicious scripting. Among several browser alternatives for Windows users, the Opera browser stands out in functionality and integration, and is gaining a wider following as a safer surfing alternative to Internet Explorer.

To be sure, there are other browsers such as the one from Mozilla and their newest release, Firefox. There are several flavors of IE กoverlaysก, which use the core IE programming for web page display, and thus aren’t any safer than the original IE. (You should of course always use antivirus software to protect your PC, regardless of browser. Many viruses arrive as email attachments, and opening those on a Windowsbased PC will cause problems). Among nonIE browsers, it seems to be down to a twohorse race between Mozilla and Opera.

Opera, from Oslo, Norway, based Opera Software ASA, provides many popular features. An integrated email client, contact book, bookmarks with searchable notes, tabbed multiple windows, a builtin password manager, a popup blocker, multiple language support, saved sessions, privacy controls, builtin chat, and the ability to read RSS feeds from within Opera mail make the Opera browser a very powerful and worthwhile IE replacement candidate.

Unless you have special need for IE, such as a browser toolbar or web interaction software that you use, there is really no reason not to give Opera a try if you’re worried about safe surfing. While Opera does have a paid version, you can also download a sponsored version (with ads unobtrusively placed in the browser control area), which is free.

By Jakob Jelling

http://www.sitetube.com

About The Author

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.sitetube.com. Visit his website for the latest on planning, building, promoting and maintaining websites.

This article was posted on October 11, 2004

by Jakob Jelling

Your PC can contribute with Google Compute

Your PC can contribute with Google Compute

by: Jakob Jelling

Have you heard of the SETI Project? SETI stands for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, and the project is operated by the University of California at Berkeley. SETI monitors and processes radio signals from space, looking for possible signs of intelligent extraterrestrial life. SETI uses proprietary software to distribute computer processing power among all connected PCs participating in SETI project so that the radio signals can be processed faster and more efficiently. SETI effectively creates one big supercomputer from thousands of connected PCs across their network. Now users of the Google Toolbar can contribute to scientific research in much the same way, through Google Compute.

Google has teamed with Folding@home for their first project. This research organization is nonprofit and based at Stanford University. They use participantsก combined computing power to analyze the genetic structure of proteins for medical research.

Once installed to the Google Toolbar, Google Compute can be disabled easily at any time. While enabled, it will use your computerกs otherwise idle time to process computing work assigned to it automatically from Folding@home, then automatically transfer results back to Folding@home when complete.

Users have plenty of informational and control options for Google Compute. A system tray icon (a double helix) indicates that Google Compute is running, and when bright, the same icon indicates that processing work is being performed. There are two modes available to help prevent interference with other programs that you use.

Google Compute requires Windows, IE5 or higher, 64 megabytes of RAM minimum, and the English version of the Google toolbar. A high speed internet connection isn’t required, but you should routinely connect to the Internet every few days, and be prepared for a delay while the processed data is uploaded. Data is transferred using outbound HTTP, so it will work through most semitransparent firewalls. About 20 megabytes per month of data is transferred to the Folding@home project.

By Jakob Jelling

http://www.sitetube.com

About The Author

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.sitetube.com. Visit his website for the latest on planning, building, promoting and maintaining websites.

This article was posted on September 29, 2004

by Jakob Jelling

Don’t Shoot The (Yahoo) Messenger!

Don’t Shoot The (Yahoo) Messenger!

by: Jakob Jelling

Most anyone whose kids have become teenagers over the last few years has almost certainly at least heard of กIMก. Itกs become a verb among not only teens, but many adult surfers too. As in กIM me later!ก. For anyone who doesn’t know, IM, or Instant Messaging, is software that lets people communicate over the Internet, well, instantly. Or nearly so with only slight delays most of the time, instant messaging has always allowed users to type messages back and forth over the Internet. Itกs a lot like passing a note in class, with new parts of a conversation added on to the end of previous parts. Yahoo Messenger was one of the first to offer both IM software and a lane on the information superhighway for IM messages to travel.

But as the kids have grown, so has Yahoo Messenger. Itกs a lot more than a mere teen toy now. Yahoo, in an effort to attract and retain loyalty to itกs brand, offers email, a personalized My Yahoo Portal, an address book, calendar, maps, bookmarks, a toolbar, and other services, many of them integrated to work together. But they seem to have paid special attention to Yahoo Messenger, especially recently. As more surfers have moved to highspeed internet connections, Yahoo has upgraded Yahoo Messenger to include Launchcast Radio, Yahoo Games, and of course, a considerable selection of customization options.

Perhaps the biggest change, and one many adult surfers will most appreciate, is the addition of Webcam, photo, and voice chat capabilities. Voice chat, in particular, will probably appeal to a broad audience. With it, a pair of speakers, and a microphone, you can talk live with contacts, over the Internet, even internationally, for free, using voice over IP technology. Most of the time, depending on network traffic between you and the other party, the conversation is loud & clear, and there is very little delay.

You may have wondered why your teens would prefer to type messages when they can just as easily call their friends. Now, with Yahoo Messenger, they, and you, can do both, using the same software!

By Jakob Jelling

http://www.sitetube.com

About The Author

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.sitetube.com. Visit his website for the latest on planning, building, promoting and maintaining websites.

This article was posted on October 11, 2004

by Jakob Jelling

Introducing A9.com

Introducing A9.com

by: Jakob Jelling

In this age of keeping the search engine capabilities clean and providing a less is more approach, Google.com has emerged from virtually out of nowhere to be the leading engine available. People like Google because they aren’t barraged with useless information, flashy banner ads and most of all, annoying popup advertisements. People want to get their information fast and without being inundated about the newest car or fad diet. Enter a new player into this domain A9.com.

A9.com was formed and opened in Palo Alto California in October 2003. Branded as a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc., A9.com is looking to take over where Google left off. You may be wondering what makes A9.com any better than Google? The answer is that A9.com offers users search results from five separate repositories.

Google.com provides the web and image section and book texts are offered by none other than Amazon.com. Vast libraries of over 120,000 books on the market today are at the users fingertips should they need references. Movie and theatre references are drawn from IMDB.com otherwise known as Internet Movie Database. Gurunet.com provides reference information to this site as well.

What makes A9 interesting is that it captures or snapshots previous searches into memory. As the user searches the web abroad they will continue to build their own history file in case they need to research the information again in the future. A9.com also provides a detailed diary that you can maintain. If you think that Google still may have a stronger hold because of its toolbar capabilities, think again, A9.com has its own toolbar as well. By using the A9.com toolbar, users can retrieve information previously searched quickly and more efficiently.

A9.com’s CEO, Jeff Bezos’ vision on bringing together many technologies to help hone in on the best possible way to search the web for exact and detailed information makes A9.com a strong competitor in the new search engine marketplace.

Some of the robust features available with A9.com are:

The ability to store a detailed search history to pull information from previous queries. Users can even modify their history files to get the results they are looking for.

A diary function that allows the user to record and crossreference information about any web page visited. This feature is integrated with the A9.com toolbar.

Drag and drop a URL by book marking

Discover feature that displays information that the user might be interested as well.

As of September 2004, this product is still in Beta testing.

By Jakob Jelling

http://www.sitetube.com

About The Author

Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.sitetube.com. Visit his website for the latest on planning, building, promoting and maintaining websites.

This article was posted on September 27, 2004

by Jakob Jelling