Google It!

“Google it.”

This phrase has gained much popularity over the past few years and I find myself using it almost every day. If someone asks me a question and I do not know the answer then ‘Google it’ is my response. I find myself Googling things all of the time. If I want to know the lyrics to a song or the equation that will help me solve a problem on my physics homework then I simply ‘Google it’. Google is one of the most popular search engines on the internet and in my eyes is the virtual gateway to an abyss of information. When I saw that Google had a blog I thought to myself, “What could ‘Google’ possibly blog about?” It became very apparent as I skimmed their blog that because Google is such a large entity with so many aspects they have plenty to blog about.

Google is still growing and changing very rapidly, therefore keeping up with the Google blog is a great way to stay updated on all that Google has to offer. For example, there is a new feature on Google search that allows you to block particular domains in future searches. If you find a certain domain not useful in your search, then you simply click "Block all example.com results" and these domains will not appear in your next search. The Google blog describes particular features and describes how to use them. After skimming the blog I realized that I was greatly unaware of all that Google can do!

The post I found to be most interesting was their most recent concerning the earthquake and tsunami in Japan. It explains how Google is using their current features and developing new ones to help with the devastation. A Google Person Finder was set up in English, Chinese, and Japanese to aid in finding missing people. This feature also includes news updates and maps to assist in locating loved ones. In addition, a Crisis Response information page was created to relay existing information about shelters and other crisis assistance services to the public. The Google homepage was also used to post impending tsunami warnings to keep the public updated on areas of danger. Google also donated $250,000 to Japanese relief and recovery organizations. I was very impressed with what Google is doing to assist with the devastation in Japan.

Google maintains a very informative, useful blog that is kept very up to date, sometimes with multiple posts a day. Blogtrepreneur.com named Google’s blog one of the top ten corporate blogs, and from what I see they have every right to hold this honor. Google's blog is a prime example of a corporate blog that is accomplishing exactly what it wants to. It informs its users not only about the company but also about all that it has to offer, and it does so in an entertaining and attention keeping fashion. Google's blogging strategy is obviously well-tuned and other corporate bloggers can learn from their methods.

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/

http://www.blogtrepreneur.com/2009/02/19/ten-corporate-blogs-worth-reading/