The Google Toolbar: Value Beyond Searching

By Dennis J. Bottjer
Active iNet Services
www.activeinetservices.net
Copyright 2004

Google, as a company, has an amazing ability to continually release software that is both innovative and useful. As an example, for this article I would like to discuss the freely available Google Toolbar. Some of you may be thinking that the Google Toolbar is nothing more than a brilliant marketing tool but I assure you that it has much greater value.


As expected the Google tool bar (shown above) provides an easy mechanism for searching the web using Google’s powerful search engine. Simply enter a search phrase in the space provided and click “Search Web.” As a result of this action your web browser will automatically be redirected to a Google results page for the search you just performed. This feature, while very handy, is just a taste of what the toolbar can do.

Pop Up Blocker:

One of my favorite features of the Google Toolbar is the built in Pop-Up blocker. I would venture to say we have all experienced the dreaded Pop-Up window from perhaps clicking on a search result that looked useful but turned out to be a porn site or one huge advertisement. Google included this very easy adjusting Pop-Up blocker that works very well as an added bonus. By blocking Pop-Ups the toolbar improves the quality of your web surfing experience and helps keep your computer safe from spyware and other malicious programs some websites like to install on our computers.

Auto Fill:

This is a time saving feature for anyone that routinely shops online. Buying a product or signing up for a service has become a rather straightforward process online. In fact most sites require the same information and have similar user interfaces. So if most services require the same basic information to place an order why do you have to waste time entering that information at different sites? Thanks to the Google Toolbar you don’t have to anymore. The Auto Fill feature allows you to specify commonly requested information such as your name, address, email address, telephone number, etc. Now the next time you visit a site that requests this information just click the Auto Fill button on the Google Toolbar and it will automatically fill out as much of the online form as possible.

Page Rank:

The time has come where being found online in a major search engine is perhaps more valuable then being found offline in a phone book. Consider that a 21-year-old college graduate entering the work force is part of the first generation to grow up with the Internet. That is, they cannot remember a time before the existence of Google. Some have never experienced dialup, having been spoiled on broadband such a cable modem or DSL Internet access. It is important to realize that this Internet generation is the first wave. Using the Internet to buy things, communicate, entertain, etc. is second nature to them.

Many web site owners have recognized the value of good rankings in major search engines and try to improve those rankings routinely. The Google Toolbar can help in this quest for search engine dominance with its page rank feature. This feature reports to the user how well the web page currently loaded in your web browser ranks on Google. The scale the page rank feature uses to measure a web pages ranking is from one to ten with ten being the best. You can use this feature to identify site that have high ranks and then study those web sites and learn what makes them achieve their high rankings.