Google Is King Of Search Engines
Illawarra Mercury
Friday October 26, 2001
OF all the Internet search engines, none holds a candle to Google.com with its ability to get quick answers. Because Google.com uses a special architecture, this search engine returns answers to queries much faster than most of the competition.
Google is based on using a set of ultrahigh-speed server computers to hold small abstracts of 1.6 billion existing web pages that the service has indexed. These abstracts are kept on what Google calls ``doc servers" and are returned almost instantly because they are stored on those special servers.
It can take much longer to actually download the full article, but a great many questions get answered simply by viewing the abstract.
Need a snippet of barely remembered poetry or a phrase from a book? Type in a key phrase or so, and Google.com will kick back the name of the poem or whatever in 10 seconds.
Need somebody's phone number? Type in a search on the order of John Doe, Chicago, Illinois, and the first hit will be phone numbers for all who fit the search term.
Need an address? Same drill. Type in Jane Doe, Peoria, Illinois, and you not only will get the street number, the software will call up a map showing how to drive to that exact address.
Need a stock quote? Type a ticker symbol in the Google.com search box and you'll get the latest trade data and a list of recent headlines about the company.
Over the past year or so, the Google.com web site has blossomed into an amazing research tool by adding those features and a great many more. Because of the tech meltdown only a handful of hard-core Internet fanatics have discovered what a slick little tool Google.com has become.
Yet another offering that has started endearing Google.com to hard-core Internet denizens is called Google Zeitgeist, a continually updated report on the current mood and focus of the world as reflected on the Internet at http://www.chicago.tribune.com/
IF you surf the Internet, you've seen them: large advertisements that are spawned in separate browser windows, launched from web pages that you visit.
These ads sometimes appear on top of the web page you're trying to view. Other times, they actually appear underneath your browser (they're called pop-under ads), only to resurface later and get in your way.
Such ads have become pervasive, and they please almost no one.
Some software companies have stepped in to attack these ads with ad-blocking software.
Although ad-blocking software is attracting a large mainstream audience that would like to get rid of obtrusive Internet advertisements, not everyone is happy that such software exists.
Ads, says Kevin O'Connell, of Internet advertising firm DoubleClick, are what ``keeps the Internet free for consumers. When you go to a site like Yahoo or AltaVista, that visit is being paid by an advertiser."
``Ads are annoying on the Internet, but they are annoying on television, as well," Carol Flewelling, president of Maryland-based Family Education Network, said. ``I'd rather put up with the advertisements than have to pay more for my Internet connection."
Nevertheless, programs such as AdSubtract (www.adsubtract.com) and WebWasher (www.webwasher.com) are attracting millions of users.
© 2001 Illawarra Mercury
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