Google: The Missing Manual, 2nd Edition

Appendix A. The Google Wide Web

Google is a phenomenon so huge, it’s inspired a cottage industry of third-party sites either discussing it or using its index to do funky search tricks. Here are just some of the best and brightest.

Note

As of this writing, all of these Web addresses are working in the most recent versions of most modern browsers. If you have trouble using one of these services, upgrade your browser or try a different one. Should you find a URL that doesn’t work (it happens), report it at www.missingmanuals.com.

Sites That Use Google

• www.googlefight.com. This site lets you type in two queries, and then it runs a search to see which is more popular. Find out who’s mentioned more often on the Web, cats or dogs; Janet Jackson or Justin Timberlake; George Bush or burning bush. Don’t miss the funny fights (found under the links on the left side of the page). Another site, www.onfocus.com/googlesmack/down.asp offers a similar service.

• www.googlism.com. Find out what the Web is saying about nearly anything. Type in a word, choose whether it’s a Who, What, Where, or When, and then click the Googlism button to get a nifty list of comments from Google results that mention your term. For example, if you try Tivo, you learn that people have said: “Tivo is theft,” “Tivo is god,” “Tivo is exhausting.”

• www.googleblaster.com. Here you can type in multiple queries at once, then click a single button to run the searches simultaneously. The results look like a regular Google page, but ...