I remember when I first discovered Google. I used to work at a technical training company, and when I tried to explain to other instructors how much better it was, they smirked at me and told me about how much better their favorites were. Now everyone uses it, and it even gets writeups in regular, mainstream news magazines.
It truly is amazing. I even use it to search my own site's archives. Just type "dean esmay" and a couple of other words and you'll usually find whatever you're looking for on this site (e.g. "dean esmay karl marx" or "dean esmay american spectator"). Astounding.
Anyway, the Google folks have put up a neat article about Google searches for 2002 that gives an interesting picture of what internet users are interested in. Some of it was unsurprising, some was.
(What I keep wondering is how exactly the Google people make a profit. If they do.)
Great article here at Newsweek magazine on Google.
And, yes, they do make money.
Searching Dean's World? Click on "Advanced Search" and tell Google to limit the search to http://www.deanesmay.com. Enter your keywords and you will find everything you are looking for.
This is a great way to search other web sites that do not have great search capabilities, i.e., support.microsoft.com.
Pantry getting short on supplies? Type in what you have left on the shelves and google it: you'll find some recipes.
Ok, it only works if you have more than, say, a bottle of soy sauce and a half-opened box of croutons. Don't ask me how I know this.
Started dating someone new? Type their name into Google -- you might REALLY be surprised at what you find.
Check it out.
For something amusing, do an exact phrase search of my name "william m dooley" on Google and follow the first hit.
Google claims two revenue streams: fees for ad words and other text-based sponsored links, and licensing/hosting their search engine. I'm madly searching now but can't find the resource, so you'll have to pretend to take my word that I recollect seeing an estimate of $70M annual revenue, of which $20M or so was from licensing the engine out.
Bill:
You're looking a bit pale around the edges.
Imagine my dismay when I learned I'm deceased. And, worse yet, on public display. I think the other fellow is an imposter.
Bill
"Rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated."
(Mark Twain)
I love Google! That's how I found out I was running for Congress!
I found out that I have an exotic Persian pomegranite liqueur from Japan named after me...
...or something.
Who ever woulda thunk it? I'm a champion pole vaulter!
I've seen your picture, Paul.
I find that a really scary thought. :-)