Press releases

Google Hacks, Third Edition: The World According to Google

Press release: August 9, 2006

Sebastopol, CA--At last. By adding it to the dictionary, Webster finally made "google" an official verb. But Google today is so much more than googling the new boss or ex-boyfriend, and digging up unvarnished product reviews or sussing out the best prices.

The third edition of Google Hacks," by Rael Dornfest, Paul Bausch, Tara Calishain (O'Reilly, US $24.99), puts hundreds of new insider strategies at your fingertips. Whether you want to visualize web site traffic with Google Analytics or turn Gmail into your PC's external hard drive--you'll learn how to do so more quickly, efficiently, and creatively with this new book. Plus readers learn more about Google's unique language for fine-tuning searches.

"We all search every day with Google," said web developer and coauthor Bausch, "By taking a bit of time to learn some of Google's specialized syntaxes, those searches can be more precise and more efficient."

Updated tips, tricks, and scripts help turn ordinary users into power searchers. And extensive coverage of the latest stars in Google's expanding universe of applications and services reveal more of what you can do with Google Earth, Google Talk, Google Maps, Google Blog Search, Video Search, Music Search, Google Base, Google Reader, and Google Desktop. Google Hacks shows you how to:

  • Search Google over IM with a Google Talk bot
  • Build a customized Google Map and add it to your web site
  • Cover your searching tracks and take back your browsing privacy
  • Turn any Google query into an RSS feed that you can monitor in Google
    • Reader or the newsreader of your choice
  • Keep tabs on blogs in new, useful ways
  • Turn Gmail into an external hard drive for Windows, Mac, or Linux
  • Beef up your web pages with search, ads, news feeds, and more
  • Program Google with the Google API and language of your choice

    • If your concerned about Google recording and archiving your digital life, the new edition offers advice and concrete tips for protecting your privacy.

    "People need to realize that when they use any Google product, they are leaving traces of themselves and their behavior with the company" said Bausch. "Readers will also find information about safeguarding their privacy along the way."

    In his forward to the third edition of Google Hacks, Chris DiBona, Open Source Programs Manager at Google, wrote, "If you want to create and distribute information using Google tools or find new, innovative ways of using tools that we make available to you, this book will help you. The folks at O'Reilly have put together an eminently usable tome, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do."

    Praise for the previous editions:

    "In short, this book provides a fascinating hands-on experience in taking Googling to the next level. Like all the Hacks books, it has tips for the timid, and big, bold programs for the brave. You may never look at Google the same way again."
    --DrPat, Blogcritics.org, June 2005

    "Tara Calishain and Rael Dornfest's Google Hacks, 2nd Edition,' tells how to work more effectively with Google's unique search engine, how to pull results from difficult places using advanced Google web functions, and how to understand how Google ranks web sites for searches. Either frequent internet searchers or web site builders will find 'Google Hacks' an essential guide."
    --James Cox, The Computer Shelf, Midwest Book Review, May 2005

    "Google Hacks presents tons of useful ways to use Google for searches, fun and more."
    --Richard Pachter, Miami Herald, March 2005

    "Google Hacks: Tips & Tools for Smarter Searching is helpful reference for any Google user who wants to get the most out of their searching experience...If any of your work relies on using Google, 'Google Hacks' should be part of it."
    --Ben Rothke, UnixReview.com, March 2005

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