A single search reveals four elements that separate Google from its competition: speed, accuracy, objectivity and ease of use. Almost as soon as www.google.com or an international Google URL is entered, the homepage appears on the screen. The clean design of the site makes it abundantly clear how to proceed and offers little to distract the user in search of information. Search results are clearly separated from advertising, which is identified as "sponsored links."

The speed with which the results are returned is even more impressive. Google examines more than 8 billion web pages to find the most relevant pages for any query and typically returns those results in less than half a second. No other search engine accesses more of the Internet or delivers more useful information than Google.

Though a basic Google search answers most questions, it is possible to customize everything from the language of the interface to the format of the pages Google returns as results. Users can search for images, multiple file types, pages in Czech or Turkish, posts to Usenet, phone numbers, airline flight info or categories in the Open Directory. By using the preferences page, users can also select the number of results returned and filter out adult content.

There's much more to what Google offers, from an amazing spell checker to tools for translating web pages from one language to another or from HTML to a format readable by most mobile devices. Other search features include:

To use Google's built-in calculator function, simply enter the calculation you'd like done into the search box. example:

To use Google to find street maps, enter a U.S. street address, including zip code or city/state in the Google search box. example:

For a complete list, visit our features page at: http://www.google.com/help/features.html