Google Hacks

Google Hacks

Everyone knows that Google lets you search billions of web pages. But few people realize that Google also gives you hundreds of cool ways to organize and play with information.

Since we released the last edition of this bestselling book, Google has added many new features and services to its expanding universe: Google Earth, Google Talk, Google Maps, Google Blog Search, Video Search, Music Search, Google Base, Google Reader, and Google Desktop among them. We've found ways to get these new services to do even more.

The expanded third edition of Google Hacks is a brand-new and infinitely more useful book for this powerful search engine. You'll not only find dozens of hacks for the new Google services, but plenty of updated tips, tricks and scripts for hacking the old ones. Now you can make a Google Earth movie, visualize your web site traffic with Google Analytics, post pictures to your blog with Picasa, or access Gmail in your favorite email client. Industrial strength and real-world tested, this new collection enables you to mine a ton of information within Google's reach. And have a lot of fun while doing it:

- Search Google over IM with a Google Talk bot

- Build a customized Google Map and add it to your own web site

- Cover your searching tracks and take back your browsing privacy

- Turn any Google query into an RSS feed that you can monitor in Google Reader or the newsreader of your choice

- Keep tabs on blogs in new, useful ways

- Turn Gmail into an external hard drive for Windows, Mac, or Linux

- Beef up your web pages with search, ads, news feeds, and more

- Program Google with the Google API and language of your choice

For those of you concerned about Google as an emerging Big Brother, this new edition also offers advice and concrete tips for protecting your privacy. Get into the world of Google and bend it to your will!

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Paul Bausch is the co-creator of Blogger, the popular weblog software. A veteran Web developer, Paul is skilled in a variety of programming languages and is the creator of several useful blogging tools.

Inhaltsangabe

Foreword

Credits

Preface

Chapter 1. Web

introduction

Google Web Search Basics 1

Full-Word Wildcards 5

Special Syntax 6

Mixing Syntax 10

Advanced Search 14

Quick Links 17

Language Tools 20

Anatomy of a Search Result 22

Setting Preferences 24

Understanding Google URLs 27

1. Browse the Google Directory

2. Glean a Snapshot of Google in Time

3. Visualize Google Results

4. Check Your Spelling

5. Google Phonebook: Let Google's Fingers Do the Walking

6. Look Up Definitions

7. Find Directories of Information

8. Cover Your Bases

9. Hack Your Own Google Search Form

10. Compare Google and Yahoo! Search Results

11. Cover Your Tracks

12. Improve Google's Memory

13. Find Out What Google Thinks ___ Is

14. Browse the World Wide Photo Album

15. Find Similar Images

16. Track Stocks

Chapter 2. Advanced Web

introduction

Assumptions 86

17. Assemble Advanced Search Queries

18. Like a Version: Search with Synonyms

19. Capture Google Results in a Google Box

20. Cook with Google

21. Permute a Query

22. Summarize Results by Domain

23. Measure Google Mindshare

24. SafeSearch Certify URLs

25. Search Google Topics

26. Run a Google Popularity Contest

27. Scrape Yahoo! Buzz for a Google Search

28. Compare Google's Results with Other Search Engines

29. Scattersearch with Yahoo! and Google

30. Yahoo! Directory Mindshare in Google

31. Spot Trends with Geotargeting

32. Bring the Google Calculator to the Command Line

33. Build Your Own Google Search Feeds

34. Search Google by Link Graph

35. Download Google Videos as AVI Files

Chapter 3. News and Blogs

Introduction

Google News 168

Google Groups 172

Blogs 177

Beyond Google for News and Blogs 180

36. Scrape Google News

37. Visualize Google News

38. Map Google News

39. Track Your Favorite Sites

40. Scrape Google Groups

41. Seek Out Blog Commentary

42. Glean Blog-Free Google Results

43. Find Blog Commentary for Any URL with a Single Click

44. Track Topics on Blogs over Time

45. Blog from Your Desktop

46. Program Blogger with PHP

Chapter 4. Extending Google

47. Keep Tabs on Your Searches with Google Alerts

48. Google Your Desktop

49. Google with Bookmarklets

50. Google from IRC

51. Google on the Go

52. Google over IM

53. Googlify Your Browser

54. Search with Google from Any Web Page

55. Customize the Firefox Quick Search Box

56. Build a Google Screensaver

57. Add a Feed to Google Quickly

58. Tame Long Google URLs

59. Autocomplete Search Terms as You Type

60. Refine Your Google Search

61. Make Google More Accessible for Low-Vision Users

62. Search for Lyrics on Google

Chapter 5. Google Maps

63. Think Global, Google Local

64. Get Around http://maps.google.com

65. Find Yourself (and Others) on Google Maps

66. Build Your Own Google Map

67. Add a Google Map to Your Web Site

68. Map Flickr Contacts

69. Fly Across the Earth

Chapter 6. Gmail

introduction

Signing Up 348

Gmail Search Syntax 348

Gmail Chat 351

Additional Resources 352

70. Create and Use Custom Addresses

71. Import Your Contacts into Gmail

72. Import Mail into Gmail

73. Export Your Gmail

74. Gmail on the Go

75. Use Gmail as a Linux Filesystem

76. Use Gmail as a Hard Drive

77. Program Gmail

78. Force Gmail to Use a Secure Connection

Chapter 7. Webmastering

introduction

Google's Importance to Webmasters 399

The Mysterious PageRank 400

The Equally Mysterious Ranking Algorithm 400

Tools for Webmasters 400

Keeping Up with Google's Changes 404

In a Word: Relax 405

79. A Webmaster's Introduction to Google

80. Get Inside the PageRank Algorithm

81. 26 Steps to 15 KB a Day

82. Be a Good Search Engine Citizen

83. Clean Up for a Google Visit

84. Remove Your Materials from Google

85. Get the Most Out of AdWords

86. Generate Google AdWords

87. Scrape Google AdWords

88. Add Search to Your Site

89. Feed News to Your Web Site

Chapter 8. Programming Google

introduction

Signing Up and Google's Terms 448

The Google Web APIs Developer's Kit 449

Using Your Google API Key 449

What's WSDL? 450

Understanding the Google API Query 451

Understanding the Google API Response 455

Beyond Web APIs 458

A Note on Spidering and Scraping 458

90. Program Google in Perl

91. Install the SOAP::Lite Perl Module

92. Program Google with the Net::Google Perl Module

93. Loop Around the 10-Result Limit

94. Program Google in Java

95. Program Google in Python

96. Program Google in C# and .NET

97. Program Google in VB.NET

98. Program Google with ColdFusion

99. Program Google with PHP 5

100. Program Google with VBScript

Appendix. Track News About GoogleIndex