Some days it seems like Google
is working hard at achieving its goal of organizing the world's
information, making it easier for us to find what we need. Other days it
seems like the company plans to take over the entire world. And with a
code of conduct that includes the direction of "don't be evil," maybe
that's not necessarily a bad thing [source:
].
There's no denying it -- Google is an Internet
powerhouse. It's such an influential presence on the Web that when
Yahoo! partnered with Google to put Google Ads on Yahoo! search results
pages, people began to worry that Google would monopolize the search engine advertising business. Even the U.S. Congress began to question the allegiance [source:
].
Google has certainly come a long way -- the company grew from a
haphazard collection of computers networked together in a garage to a
global corporation worth billions of dollars.
The backbone to
Google's business is its search engine, but that's not the only service
Google offers. Do a little digging on Google's site and you'll come
across everything from productivity applications to an instant messaging
client. Google developed some of these products and features itself.
But in some cases, Google products started out as independent projects
designed by other companies. If Google executives see an interesting
application that helps the company achieve its goals, there's a chance
Google will make an offer to acquire that company.
-- early releases that may still have problems with functionality -- to
completed products. Even Gmail, Google's e-mail client that launched in
2004, is still in beta. But some of the company's initiatives are less
finished than others. Google allows users to try experimental services
at the Google Labs Web site, but admits that the services "aren't quite
ready for prime time" [source:
].
Let's dive right into the diverse world of Google products. We'll start by taking a closer look at Gmail.
1. Google E-mail

In 2004, a Google press release revealed that the company wasn't
satisfied with dominating Internet searches -- the second-most popular
online activity. Google wanted to tackle the biggest online service on
the Internet: e-mail. To that end, Google announced it would allow a
select number of people to test a Web-hosted e-mail service called Gmail
[source: Google].
Gmail started out as Google's internal e-mail service. When Google
decided to make Gmail available to people outside of the company, it
chose to take a gradual approach. At first, the only way to get a Gmail
account was to receive an invitation from someone else. Nearly three
years after announcing Gmail, Google opened up access to the public at
large. Now anyone can create a Gmail account.
2. GTalk

Just when you thought the Internet had its fill of instant messaging
clients, along came Google Talk. Introduced in 2005, Google Talk is an
application that lets users send messages to each other. Unlike Gmail,
the Google Talk client isn't entirely Web-based. Users must first
download an application to their own computers in order to access its
full set of features.
Those features go beyond simple messages. You can send unlimited files
-- of unlimited size -- to other users. Just remember that if you choose
to send someone a big file, it's going to take a while to transfer to
the other user, especially over slower connections. Also, if you have a
cap on how much data you can transfer over your network, you might face
some hefty fees from your Internet Service Provider (ISP).
Google Talk is also a voice over Internet protocol (VOIP) client. That
means you can make PC-to-PC calls to other Google Talk users. You and
your contact will both need microphones and speakers, but Google Talk
handles the rest. Real-time voice transmission can take up a lot of
bandwidth. Just like file transfers, you might risk going over your data
cap with your ISP if you use this feature a lot.
Users can also download the Google Talk Gadget, a Web-based application
that allows users to access many (but not all) Google Talk functions
from a personal Web site like a blog or an iGoogle page. That means you
can use any computer connected to the Internet to navigate to the right
site and use Google Talk. Right now, using a Google Talk Gadget is the
easiest way Mac owners can access any of Google Talk's features.
3. Google Checkout
Many people use the Internet to shop. One of the drawbacks of online
shopping involves transmitting your personal information over the
Internet. If you want to purchase items at different Web sites, you have
to enter all your information multiple times. Google saw the
opportunity to create a tool that would allow merchants and users to
take advantage of a universal checkout system.
Here's how it works: first you create a Google account. If you already
have a Google account, you'll need to enhance it by providing a credit
card number, billing address, shipping address and a phone number. Once
you complete this step, you can go shopping.
4. Google Calendar
In April 2006, Google released a free online calendar application called
Google Calendar. If you have a Google account, you can create a Google
Calendar. If you don't have one, you can register for a free account.
You can use Google Calendar to schedule events and invite people to
participate. By sharing folders, you can compare your schedule with
other users. If everyone keeps his or her calendar up to date, it's easy
to avoid conflicts. A single user can open multiple calendars and view
all the scheduled events in a single window. Since this can get
confusing, Google displays each calendar's events in a different color.
Google includes its search feature within the Google Calendar system.
You can search for specific calendars. Calendar owners can choose to
keep a calendar private or share it openly with everyone. It's also
possible to create multiple calendars with one account. That can come in
handy for organizations that have multiple customer bases. For example,
a theatre might have one calendar for the general public that shows the
times of performances and a second calendar for actors to let them know
about auditions and rehearsal schedules.
5. Google Docs
The Google Docs suite marks Google's attempt at getting into the online
productivity software game. The free suite includes a word processor, a
spreadsheet editor and a presentation application. In short, it has the
basic software applications many businesses need. Instead of saving all
your data to your computer's hard drive, you save your Google Docs files
to a remote Google file system. Because the files are hosted on the
Web, you can access them from any computer connected to the Internet.
Your documents aren't tied to a specific device.
Another feature of Google Docs is the ability to share documents and
editing capabilities with other Google users. Multiple people can make
edits to the same document at the same time. With traditional desktop
applications, a project manager might have to handle multiple copies of
the same file as various collaborators make edits and additions to the
document. With Google Docs, everyone can make his or her changes
directly to the file saved on Google's servers. Google Docs also keeps
track of earlier versions of the document -- project managers don't have
to worry about someone accidentally deleting an entire section.
6. Google Maps
Google launched its online map feature in 2005, nearly 10 years after
MapQuest's online debut. Like its competitor, Google Maps lets users
view maps of specific regions and get directions from one location to
another. Google Maps allows users to view street maps, topographical
terrain maps or even satellite views. For some areas, Google also has a
traffic map feature that can alert you to any snarls or bottlenecks.
The Google Maps feature relies on digital map images from NAVTEQ. NAVTEQ
provides map data to many different clients, including in-vehicle
navigation systems. A company called deCarta -- formerly Telcontar --
provides the applications that power the mapping features. Google
employees create the applications that combine the images from NAVTEQ
and the mapping capabilities provided by deCarta to create the features
you see in Google Maps.
In 2008, Google added a new feature to Google Maps. Now you can get
walking directions from one location to another. Previously, Google Maps
only plotted out driving directions, which have to take things like
one-way streets into account. Now users can find the shortest walking
route between two points.
7. Google Earth Maps
Google is always looking at new ways to organize and present
information. One of those ways is to geotag data. Geotagging is a way of
linking information to a real-world location. You view geotagged
information on a map. While Google Maps could serve as a way to provide
geotagged information to users, Google decided to go with an
alternative. Google chose a digital globe and called it Google
Earth.Google Earth, a digital globe that gave users the ability to zoom
in and out of views ranging from a few dozen feet from the surface of
the Earth to the equivalent of orbiting the planet. Google Earth gives
the user dozens of choices, from viewing satellite images of the planet
to overlaying maps, three dimensional terrain features and even
fully-rendered cityscapes.Google Earth also allows developers to create
applications to link information to specific locations on the globe.
Users can elect to view geotagged information ranging from general news
reports to customized data. Google Earth makes it possible to illustrate
news stories in a new way. For example, a news agency could illustrate a
story about wildfires by plotting out the damage on Google Earth.
8. Google Desktop
Have you ever had to search for a particular file on your computer? How
about an e-mail that's somewhere in the middle of a folder that has
thousands of messages in it? The experience can be frustrating, and
those of us who are organizationally challenged can endure a lot of
stress while trying to dig up a particular piece of information.
That's where Google Desktop can come in handy. It's a downloadable
application Google offers free of charge. Once a user downloads and
installs the application on a computer, Google Desktop goes to work. It
searches and indexes the files on the user's computer. It does all this
during the idle time when the computer isn't working on other things.
9. iGoogle
You probably have a small number of Web sites or applications that you
use more than others. What if you had a way to collect those Web sites
so that you could go to a single location on the Web to access all of
them at once? That's the concept behind iGoogle, a free aggregator or
portal Web service.
The iGoogle service allows users to select multiple applications and
news feeds from across the Internet. Each user can customize his or her
own iGoogle page. For example, sports fans can add applications that
grab the latest scores and statistics of their favorite teams from the
Internet and display them in a dedicated window on the iGoogle page.
Google lets users organize their own iGoogle pages using a set of simple
tools. One of those tools is a series of tabs at the top of the iGoogle
page. Account holders can create tabs for specific categories of
applications or news feeds. This makes it easier for users to find the
information they want when they want it. Once the user sets up his or
her iGoogle site, the application does the rest of the work.
10. Google Health
Changing doctors isn't always a smooth experience. On top of all the
normal stress of dealing with unfamiliar people, you also have to find a
way to get your medical information from your previous doctor to your
new one. That usually means you have to rely on other people and hope
that they respond. Transferring your medical data is important because
the more information your doctor has about your medical history, the
more effectively he or she will be able to diagnose and treat you when
you need it.
Google's solution to this issue is to create an electronic, centralized
location for your medical files called Google Health. Your doctors would
transfer your files to Google's databases. Instead of having to track
down the physical location of a paper file, your doctor would be able to
log in to a computer and pull up your entire medical history. You don't
have to worry about remembering which doctor has your file