Quick Guide To Google Applications
Google makes a wide variety of different applications available to their users, most of them freely. As well as being free, many of them are fun, engaging, useful, or all three. For your convenience, here’s a list of popular Google applications, as well as links to them.
Google Mail
Google Mail, or Gmail as it is commonly known, is a free webmail, POP3 and IMAP service provided by Google. Originally launched as an invitation-only beta in 2004, Gmail revolutionised the concept of webmail services, and left competitors Microsoft and Yahoo scrambling to catch up. One feature of Gmail’s start-up offer was 1GB of free storage, compared to the usual 2-4MB of webmail services at the time. Gmail became available publicly in 2007, and currently offers users over 7GB of free storage, and integrates many other Google applications.
Google Docs
Google Docs is a free web-based application provided by Google that allows users to create and edit documents, spreadsheets, presentations and forms online, and collaborate in real time with other users. This is Google’s version of an office suite, and although there are limits imposed on file size, storage and numbers, the enhanced sharing and accessibility features are making it increasingly popular.
Google Calendar
Google Calendar is a free web application offered by Google that allows users to maintain an online calendar for managing events, meetings and to do lists. The application requires a free Google (or Gmail) account to use, and is integrated with other Google applications such as Gmail and Google Desktop. Calendars can also be shared by multiple users, with varying levels of access and control, making it a great application for groups and organisations.
Google Talk
Google Talk, also known as Gtalk, is a free instant messaging and voice over internet protocol (VOIP) service provided by Gmail. Browser based, and integrated into Gmail, it requires no download, and can provide text, voice and video chat between users.
Google Earth
Google Earth is a virtual globe, on which the earth is mapped by overlaying maps and images from satellite imagery and aerial photography. Available for free with limited features, or commercially, it’s an amazing online resource that lets users navigate to anywhere in the world, and zoom in, sometimes to street level, depending on the coverage of their images. In some places, locations have been rendered in 3D, allowing you to move between virtual buildings or mountains.
Google Maps
Google Maps is an online web mapping service that Google provides free for non-commercial use. Related to Google Earth, it provides street maps, a route planner, and urban business locator for numerous countries. According to one of the creators, it’s intended to be a geographical way to organise the worlds information
Google Analytics
Google Analytics, (GA), is a free Google service that generates a detailed statistical report about visitors to a website. GA can track visitors from all referrers, including search engines, display advertising, pay-per-click networks, email marketing and digital collateral such as links within PDF documents. This service is largely aimed at web marketers, who use it measure online behaviour. It can also be linked to a Google Adwords campaign, and used to provide data for measuring and optimising advertisements.
Google Scholar
Google Scholar is an extension of the Google search engine, which allows users to search the full text of academic literature, and includes the majority of peer-reviewed online journals from some of the largest scholarly publishers in the world. Recently, it has expanded to include efforts to digitise and host journals not online, through agreements with their publishers.
Google Toolbar
Google Toolbar is available as a free download that installs an additional toolbar in Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox. The toolbar offers a search function, and gives users access to their Gmail account, bookmarks, and web history. It also offers tools such as autolink, autofill, and translation features.
Google News
An automated news aggregator, provided free by Google, Google News collates news stories and articles over the past month from various news websites, and displays them in a single location. An article preview of the first 200 characters is shown, as well as a notice informing users of whether a subscription is required to view that particular news site.
Google Books
Google Book Search allows users to search the full text of books that have been scanned by Google, and converted to digital format through optical character recognition. Although results from books are included where relevant in ordinary searches, the Google Books service allows users to limit their search to only books, rather than other websites. Public domain works, and books out of copyright, may be downloaded in their entirety, while copyrighted material can only be seen in limited pages.
Google Desktop
Google Desktop is a free desktop search application that allows you to search your own computer with Google, even while offline. Text searches can be carried out in user’s e-mails, computer files, music, photos, chats, web pages viewed, and other Google applications. It also offers the Sidebar, with links to emails, news, weather, web clips and Google Talk.
Google Sketchup
Google Sketchup is a free, limited feature version of a commercial 3D modelling program acquired by Google in 2006. The commercial version is a full function program, but the free version only supports exports to the Google Earth format, allowing users to model objects or terrains for Google’s virtual globe.
Google Adwords
Adwords is Google’s advertising product, and the main source of it’s revenue. By offering pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and site-targeted advertising for both text and banner ads, Google allows users to bid on the amount they’re willing to pay in exchange for every click on one of their adverts displayed by Google. The AdWords program includes local, national, and international targeting, and places short text or image ads based either on site context, or keyword searches that match the advertisement.
Find out more about Google Adwords.
Google Adsense
Google Adsense is the other side of the Adwords product. Adsense is an ad serving application which allows Google to display text, image and even video adverts on the sites of webmasters who enroll in the program. Each ad generates some revenue every time a user clicks on it.
Find out more about Google Adsense.
Google Groups
Google Groups is a free service provided by Google that allows users to participate in discussions related to their specific interests. Participation can be via email, or through the Google Groups online browser interface. It also allows users to create new groups, and supports reading and posting to existing Usenet groups.
Google Alerts
A free service offered by Google, Google Alerts notifies users, either by email, or by RSS feed, about new websites or news pages related to topics of their choice. Six types of alert are currently available: “News”, “Web”, “Blogs”, “Comprehensive”, “Video” and “Groups.” If a new page or site appears in the top ten or twenty results of the users predefined search term, they’re automatically notified. Users can set how frequently they would like Google to check for their alerts.
