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Maximum Google

Google is fast, accurate, and fun to use, but you can get even more out of the boss of search engines.

Steve Bass

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Find People, Places, and Things

What Did Others Think of This Site? What do folks on other Web sites have to say about the pages you find? Instead of conducting a normal search, give WebQuotes a spin. The results include commentary (if there is any) about the result pages, published by other Web sites. You'll get the most value out of this tool on queries about large, well-known Web sites. For example, Enter amazon into WebQuotes to see what others have to say about the online bookseller.

News You Choose Google News, though comprehensive and frequently updated, can't be customized. Maybe you want only business news. Try this: Drag the linked name of a section, like Business, to IE's Links toolbar, and then click that link when you want to see that news. Links to the other Google news sections appear on the left side of each news section's page.

Find Words Within a URL If you know part of the URL, precede your Google search terms with allinurl: to search for words within the URL itself. For instance, if you're looking for a Sony remote control, you might try allinurl: sony remote control.

Google Gets Around If you're looking for a street map, don't bother loading a special mapping page and tabbing from one address field to the next. Instead, just stick the address into Google's search field and you'll get two ready-to-go links--one of them to Yahoo Maps, and the other to MapQuest--listed just before the first search result.

Did Google Grab Your Site? Ever wondered whether your Web site is listed in Google's database? For the fewest and most accurate hits, substitute your Web site's domain name for each example in example site:www.example.com, and enter it into Google's search box.

Address, Puleeze? In most places, renting a reverse telephone directory could cost you a lot of money. But Google is like a free reverse directory. Type the area code and phone number (with a space between them), and there's a good chance that you'll get not only the person and company name for that number, but also their address listed before any search results.

Quick Tip Want to unlist yourself from Google's phone book for privacy reasons? Head to the Google Phonebook Name Removal page, fill in Google's Web form, and submit it (businesses must send the request by snail mail).

Get Images Immediately Need a picture of, say, a 1949 Ford hot rod? Google Image Search found more than a dozen. For best results, select Advanced Image Search and start with the 'related to the exact phrase' field. You can sharpen your search by choosing specific file types, or a particular image size or color.

The Quicker Stock Ticker Picker If you know the ticker symbol for your mutual fund or NYSE, NASDAQ, or AMEX stock, let Google use it to search for financial details. Enter the symbol, and click the Show stock quotes link at the top of the search results screen to get a special Google page loaded with pertinent data from Yahoo Finance, along with tabs that take you to stock information pages on ClearStation, The Motley Fool, MSN MoneyCentral, and Quicken.com.

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