What is the Google Toolbar?

By Jakob Jelling
Posted Thursday, September 16, 2004

No matter what browser you may want to use, you should consider using Google’s toolbar. Google.com, the innovative, stripped-down, add-free search engine that has taken the web by storm has provided an innovative interface through most web browsers; mainly Internet Explorer. This toolbar has many great features for searching around the Internet as well as blocking those annoying Pop-up ads that scream “BUY ME!” every twenty seconds.

Anyone can go to toolbar.google.com and download this great plug-in for your browser. There are various features that come with using it that you may or may not wish to employ. Taking a few minutes before you install it will definitely save you time later on.

Google Search Web
In this interface you can type in keywords, terms, phrases as well as URL’s (Universal Resource Locators) and away you go. By harnessing the Google engine you magically fly through their portal to your destination. You will render a Google search or a direct shot to your URL.

PageRank
With any good toolbar, Google let’s you know how important it thinks the site you are looking is. This rank is rated from 1 – 10, 1 being a very light, low-traveled website and ten which is a site like Google where millions of people visit each day. Your page rank is determined by several factors, keywords, keyword in URL, and reciprocal linking. Reciprocal linking alone buys the user a popular rank as Google looks favorably at websites that share good karma. The larger the number of websites pointing to your site will ultimately help you rise up through the ranking status.

Pop-Up Blocker
You get them, we all get them, those nasty pop-up ads that ask you to lose weight or tell you how to increase your libido. These advertising snippets have become annoying to the point that some websites you cannot even get on because you can be barraged by a plethora of pop-up ads. The Pop-Up Blocker plug-in allows you to receive little if no pop-ups. Google designed this plug-in as an approach to invasion free web surfing. Every time a pop-up rears its ugly head, POW! Add another pop-up to the counter. It actually tells you how many pop-ups the toolbar has thwarted.

BlogThis!
An interesting technology that was designed in the late 1990’s and recently purchased by Google. Blog This! Allows the user to create a private or public diary or workspace to share ideas, search for people, create discussions and just jot down information. These blog’s have become infamous over the past few years and Google has purchased the leading company in the boom.

Autofill capabilities
You may have been looking up a specific keyword or term and found a result that you liked. The Autofill capabilities cache your searching information for present as well as future use should you need to call up previous search requests.

As you can the Google toolbar displays many great features and technologies that you can harness in a few short clicks. The technology involved has far surpassed any other search engine on the planet.

About the Author
Jakob Jelling is the founder of (http://www.sitetube.com). Visit his website for the latest on planning, building, promoting and maintaining websites.