How do these hacks stand up? Comment on a hack from the book by choosing the associated "Discuss" link below. You can also view the code from any of the hacks by clicking on the "Listing" or "Code" links. A number of hacks have been selected to be featured online in their entirety; you may view those hacks by clicking on the hack titles that are linked.
You can also download all the scripts and other files for this book as a single zipped file.
Browse the Google Directory Google has a searchable subject index in
addition to its eight-billion-page web search
[Discuss (1) | Link to this hack]
HACK #2
Glean a Snapshot of Google in Time Google Zeitgeist provides a weekly, monthly,
and yearly overview of what the Web was interested in
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Visualize Google Results The TouchGraph Google Browser is the perfect
Google complement for those who appreciate visual displays of
information.
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #5
Check Your Spelling Google sometimes takes the liberty of
"correcting" what it perceives is a
spelling error in your query
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #6
Google Phonebook: Let Google's Fingers Do the Walking Google makes an excellent phonebook, even to
the extent of doing reverse lookups
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #7
Think Global, Google Local Take web searching to the streets—your
street, in fact. Google Local narrows down all those zillions of
results to those within range of a particular city, state, or postal
code
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #8
Track Stocks A well-crafted Google query will usually net
you company information beyond those provided by traditional stock
services
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #9
Consult the Dictionary Google, in addition to its own spellchecking
index, provides hooks into Dictionary.com
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #10
Look Up Definitions Do you find yourself smiling knowingly when
your boss mentions that well-known business principle that
you've never heard of? Overwhelmed with
"geek speak"? Chances are
Google's heard it mentioned—and possibly even
defined—somewhere before
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #11
Search Article Archives Google serves as a handy searchable archive for
back issues of online publications
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #12
Find Directories of Information Use Google to find directories, link lists, and
other collections of information
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #13
Seek Out Weblog Commentary Build queries to search only recent commentary
appearing in weblogs
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #14
Cover Your Bases Try all possible combinations of your search
keywords at once
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #15
Repetition Matters Repetition matters when it comes to keywords
weighting your queries
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #16
Search a Particular Date Range An undocumented but powerful feature of
Google's search is the ability to search within a
particular date range
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #17
Calculate Google Centuryshare Determine the year in which Elvis achieved the
height of his fame, over what period disco took hold of your
nightlife, and when fuel economy actually mattered to
anyone
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #18
Hack Your Own Google Search Form Build your own personal, task-specific Google
search form
[Discuss (2) | Link to this hack]
HACK #19
Go Beyond Google's Advanced Search Soople augments the functionality of Google
Advanced Search with comprehensive yet easy-to-use forms for every
Google occasion
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #20
Use Google Tools for Translators Create a customized search form for language
translation
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Find Recipes Let the Google API transform those random
ingredients in your fridge into a wonderful dinner
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #25
Track Result Counts over Time Query Google for each day of a specified date
range, counting the number of results at each time index
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #26
Feel Really Lucky Take the domain in which the first result of a
query appears and do more searching within that domain
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Permute a Query Run all permutations of query keywords and
phrases to squeeze the last drop of results from the Google
index
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #29
Weight a Query Keyword Add more weight to a particular keyword in your
Google search query for more targeted results
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #30
Restrict Searches to Top-Level Results Separate out search results by the depth at
which they appear in a site
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Summarize Results by Domain Get an overview of the sorts of domains
(educational, commercial, foreign, and so forth) found in the results
of a Google query
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
SafeSearch Certify URLs Feed URLs into Google's
SafeSearch to determine whether they point at questionable content
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Meander Your Google Neighborhood Google Neighborhood attempts to detangle the
Web by building a "neighborhood" of sites around a URL
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #40
Run a Google Popularity Contest Put two terms, spelling variations, animals,
vegetables, or minerals head to head in a Google-based popularity
contest.
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #41
Scrape Yahoo! Buzz for a Google Search A proof-of-concept hack scrapes the buzziest
items from Yahoo! Buzz and submits them to a Google search
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #42
Compare Google's Results with Other Search Engines Compare Google search results with results from
other search engines
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #43
Scattersearch with Yahoo! and Google Sometimes, illuminating results can be found
when scraping from one site and feeding the results into the API of
another. With scattersearching, you can narrow down the most popular
related results, as suggested by Yahoo! and Google
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #44
Yahoo! Directory Mindshare in Google How does link popularity compare in
Yahoo!'s searchable subject index versus
Google's full-text index? Find out by calculating
mindshare!
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #45
Glean Weblog-Free Google Results With so many weblogs being indexed by Google,
you might worry about too much emphasis on the hot topic of the
moment. In this hack, we'll show you how to remove
the weblog factor from your Google results
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #46
Spot Trends with Geotargeting Compare the relative popularity of a trend or
fashion in different locations, using only Google and Directi search
results
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #47
Bring the Google Calculator to the Command Line Perform feats of calculation on the command
line, powered by the magic of the Google calculator
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #48
Build a Custom Date Range Search Form Search only Google pages indexed today,
yesterday, the last 7 days, or last 30 days
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Borrow a Corporate or Product Logo Add a bit of spice to your presentation or
school report by using a corporate, project, product, or service
logo
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #51
Browse the World Wide Photo Album Take a random stroll through the
world's photo album using some clever Google Image
searches (and, optionally, a smidge of programming
know-how)
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Scrape Google News Scrape Google News Search results to get at the
latest from thousands of aggregated news sources
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #55
Visualize Google News Watch stories aggregated by Google News unfold
over time, coverage broaden and fade, and hotspots emerge and fade
again into the background
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #56
Go Deeper into Groups with Google Groups 2 Google Groups 2 merges Usenet news with mailing
lists
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Simplify Google Groups URLs If the Google Groups URLs are a little too
unwieldy, the Google Groups Simplifier will cut them down to size
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Add-Ons
HACK #59
Keep Tabs on Your Searches with Google Alerts Receive alerts in your email Inbox or RSS
reader when something you're after makes its way
into the Google Web index or a Google News story
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #60
Add Google to Your Toolbar or Desktop Google from wherever you are without skipping a
beat, thanks to an assortment of browser search boxes, toolbars, and
desktop applications
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Google with Bookmarklets Create interactive bookmarklets to perform
Google functions from the comfort of your own browser
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Google from IRC Performing Google searches from IRC is not only
convenient, but also efficient. See how fast you can Google for
something on IRC and click on the URL highlighted by your IRC
client
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #67
Google on the Go Being on the go and away from your laptop or
desktop doesn't mean leaving Google
behind
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #68
Visit the Google Labs Google Labs, as the name suggests, sports
Google's experiments, fun little hacks, and
inspirational uses of the Google engine and database
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #69
Find Out What Google Thinks ___ Is What does Google think of you, your friends,
your neighborhood, or your favorite movie?
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Glean a Gmail Invite Ask a friend, acquaintance, or stranger; swap,
auction, or finagle. A Gmail invite is hard to come by—but not
that hard
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #72
Create and Use Custom Addresses Make up an unlimited number of arbitrary email
addresses to use when signing up for something, making a purchase
online, or tracking a conversation
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Import Mail into Gmail Moving to Gmail doesn't have
to mean starting from scratch. Forward mail in bulk from your
computer or other web mail service to your Gmail account
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #75
Export Your Gmail Back up or export your Gmail messages to your
computer for safe-keeping or offline reading
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #76
Take a Walk on the Lighter Side Gmail with grace from any web browser, whether
JavaScript-disabled, not yet supported, text-only, or on a PDA or
mobile phone
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #77
Gmail on the Go You can take it with you ... Gmail on your
mobile phone, that is
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #78
Use Gmail as a Linux Filesystem Repurpose your gig of Gmail as a networked
filesystem
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #79
Use Gmail as a Windows Drive Drop a gig of Gmail storage on your Windows
desktop and treat it just about like any other drive
[Discuss (1) | Link to this hack]
HACK #80
Program Gmail Try your hand at writing an alternative
interface to Gmail using the freely available Python, Perl, PHP,
Java, and .NET libraries and API frameworks
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Ads
HACK #81
Get the Most out of AdWords Guest commentary by Andrew Goodman of Traffick
on how to write great AdWords
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #82
Generate Google AdWords You've written the copy and
you've planned the budget. Now, what keywords are
you going to use for your ad?
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #83
Scrape Google AdWords Scrape the AdWords from a saved Google results
page into a form suitable for importing into a spreadsheet or
database
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Serve Backup Ads Use AdSense's built-in (and
rather thoughtful) ability to serve ads from alternate URLs when
there are no targeted ads to offer
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Webmastering
HACK #86
A Webmaster's Introduction to Google Steps to take for optimal Google indexing of
your site
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #87
Get Inside the PageRank Algorithm Delve into the inner workings of the Google
PageRank algorithm and how it affects results
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #88
26 Steps to 15K a Day Hot and cold running content is what draws
visitors in to your web site
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #89
Be a Good Search Engine Citizen Five don'ts and one do for
getting your site indexed by Google
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #90
Clean Up for a Google Visit Before you submit your site to Google, make
sure that you've cleaned it up to make the most of
your indexing
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #91
Remove Your Materials from Google Remove your content from
Google's various web properties
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Programming Google
HACK #92
Program Google in Perl This simple script illustrates the basics of
programming the Google Web API with Perl and lays the groundwork for
the lion's share of hacks to come
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #93
Install the SOAP::Lite Perl Module Install the SOAP::Lite Perl module, backbone of
the vast majority of hacks in this book
[Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #94
Program Google with the Net::Google Perl Module A crisp, clean, object-oriented alternative to
programming Google with Perl and the SOAP::Lite module
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
Program Google in PHP A simple example of programming the Google Web
API with PHP and the NuSOAP module
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #97
Program Google in Java Programming the Google Web API in Java is a
snap, thanks to the functionality packed into the Google Web API
Developer's Kit
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #98
Program Google in Python Programming the Google Web API with Python is
simple and clean, as these scripts and interactive examples
demonstrate
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #99
Program Google in C# and .NET Create GUI and console Google search
applications with C# and the .NET framework
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]
HACK #100
Program Google in VB.NET Create GUI and console Google search
applications with Visual Basic and the .NET framework
The Code [Discuss (0) | Link to this hack]