Google for the Macintosh

Most people are aware of the powerful internet search engine, Google - but did you know that they have a special page that just searchs Apple Macintosh-related sites?

It is located at http://www.google.com/mac and http://www.google.com/mac.html.

search »

Google Mac Search Page

To use the Mac search option, just go to the Google Mac page, enter you search criteria and then either click on "Google Search" or "I'm Feeling Lucky".

The "Google Search" option will display a list of all relevant pages to your search that Google knows about, while the "I'm Feeling Lucky" buttons takes you directly to the first page that Google would list as the most relevant.

Google also have pages that restrict searchs to other platforms including Linux, NetBSD, Microsoft and the US Government.

Add Google Buttons to Your Browser

Google Buttons

Adding Google Browser Buttons to the personal toolbar in your web broswers gives you access to Google's search technology, without taking up to much extra screen space.

Browser buttons let you search the Internet simply by highlighting a word (or phrase) on any web page and clicking the "Google Search" button.

The "GoogleScout" button finds web pages that are similar to the page you're on. For example, clicking the "GoogleScout" button while on a company's homepage will often show that company's competitors.

The "Google.com" button instantly takes you to Google's homepage.

add buttons »

Goolify your Browser

Google has a special page that explains how you can modify your web browser so that Google is the default search engine in your web browser.

NOTE:These modifications can be complex and only recommended for people who are comfortable with using tools like ResEdit.

goolify »

Mac OS X Service

If you are a Mac OS X user, then there is a free third party add-on called "SearchGoogle.service" that enables you to select some text in any application, then hit "Apple-Shift-G" and you'll get Google results.

download »

SearchGoogle Screen shot

Add a Google Search Option to Your Own Web Site

There are a number of options offered by Google for adding a search option to your website.

I personally use the free WebSearch and SiteSearch option on the zonian.net.au and nicholaspyers.com websites. If you visit the sites, you'll see that on each page, in the navigation bar on the left, there is a Google search option that allows you to search the current site (nicholaspyers.com or zonian.net.au) or the entire internet.

Zonian Navigation Bar

You can customise the way this search option looks to suit your own website's look and feel, as well as customising the results page to include your own logo.

add free site search »

Credits

A copy of this article, with colour images, is available from my website, http://www.nicholaspyers.com.

Discussions about this article may also occur on the appropriate Australian Computer News Network (ACNN) mailing list(s). For more details, please visit http://www.zonian.net.au/lists.

Interested in reprinting this article? Any non-profit Apple Macintosh User Group (MUG) may re-print, free of charge, any of the articles written by Nicholas Pyers found at http://www.nicholaspyers.com/articles. There are just a couple of conditions, which basically boil down to letting us know - for the full terms and conditions, please visit http://www.nicholaspyers.com/reprints.

© May 2002, Nicholas Pyers