Dear Google Friends,
April may have been the cruelest month for T.S. Eliot, taxpayers and
tech stock investors, but not for loyal Google users. Read on for all
the ways life (or at least online searching) got better this month.
You've Ranked Us No. 1 (Again)
Participating users once again elevated Google to the position of
No. 1 search engine in NPD's survey of 13 major search and portal
sites. NPD, an independent research agency, reported that Google
ranked first overall and first in the categories of
"effectiveness", "user satisfaction," and "loyalty."
* 99 percent of our users identified Google as much or somewhat
better than other sites.
* 97 percent of our users find what they are searching for all or
most of the time.
* 8 in 10 users choose Google because it delivers the best search
results.
What can we say? We feel the same way about you and all our Google
users. Thanks for taking the time to fill in the survey and for
all your kind words.
Google Gives You the World: Search in Ten Different
Languages
Google puts the "World" in "World Wide Web" with our new
multi-language search service, available for Beta testing at
http://www.google.com. The world speaks in many tongues and now
Google does too. Try your query in French, German, Italian,
Swedish, Finnish, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Norwegian, or Danish.
Your results will contain pages only in the language(s) you
select. Or you can search the whole web and have only the tips and
instructions in a different language. We'll be expanding this
service soon to include non-European languages as well.
Back to School: Search the Sites of Top Universities
Google started as a college project, so it's only natural we'd
return to our roots. Finding vital information at dozens of
universities just got easier thanks to Google's new University
Search at http://www.google.com/universities.html . Narrow your
search to a specific school website to find things like course
schedules, admissions info, or alumni news.
See Where Your Search Terms Match
Can't find your search terms in your results? Click on the
"Show Matches" link included with every Google result to see a
snapshot of the page, with your search terms highlighted in Google
yellow. This cached version is especially useful when the live page
is inaccessible and you really, really need that pudding recipe.
Easter Surprise
Google's long tradition of special holiday decorations
(http://www.google.com/logos.html)
continues this weekend with an Easter surprise from Ken
Perlin, the NYU professor who created our animated Valentine's
Day heart. After Sunday, you'll still be able to find this
Easter treat at http://www.google.com/Easter/feature_easter.html.
Google's hoppin' little applet is best viewed before consuming mass
quantities of chocolate, hard-boiled eggs and marshmallow Peeps,
not after.
Share Google with the World
Know someone who's hard to impress? Show them just how tech savvy
you are by telling them about Google, the best way to find
information on the web:
* Click on "Email These Results" from the results page to share
interesting Google search results with friends. You can add a
personal note, and send results to yourself to save them in email
form.
* Use "Tell A Friend About Google" at
http://services.google.com/recommend.html to give your friends
the gift of time and stress-free searching!
* Submit a "Google Success Story" at
http://services.google.com/success.html to let us know how Google
has helped you find what you're looking for.
Time Digital gives Google a look
Next time you're in line at the supermarket, be sure to pick up a
copy of the May issue of TIME Digital. It makes interesting
reading, especially page 60, which features a photo of our fearless
founders Larry and Sergey and page 102, which features Google as #1
on the list of "Top 10 Sites".
According the magazine, "As search engines go, Google is to its
competitors as a laser is to a blunt stick." Actually, that one
made us blush a bit.
Until next time, keep on Googlin'
Larry, Sergey and the Google Team.
