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Google Businesses The Internet

Google Toolbar v.4 111

Posted by CmdrTaco from the you-know-you-want-it dept.
SpecialSauce writes "Google's gone and released v.4 Beta of their toolbar. Updates include: customizable buttons, smart search box, a bookmark feature that's tied to the users google.com account, and a send to SMS/Blogger/gmail button." Doesn't look like the mac version is updated yet, although the shared bookmarks thing creates unholy lust in my heart. Now if only it would allow you to search multiple search engines like Firefox's built in search.
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Google Toolbar v.4 More

Google Toolbar v.4

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  • firefox left out for now (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jgionet ( 828557 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @10:14AM (#14606414)
    I'm really disappointed a Firefox version wasn't released at the same time.
  • Since when was there a Mac version of Google Toolbar? There's one that runs on Firefox, but I thought that was a separate, unblessed project.

  • mmmm, IMDB (Score:4, Interesting)

    by BlogPope ( 886961 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @10:15AM (#14606418)
    I'd love to be able to search IMDB [imdb.com] of Gracenote [cddb.com] from google toolbar

    • Re:mmmm, IMDB (Score:4, Informative)

      by tpgp ( 48001 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @10:20AM (#14606454) Homepage
      I'd love to be able to search IMDB of Gracenote from google toolbar

      You can search both of those using Firefox's search engine [mozilla.org] add-ons (along with thousands more)

      Not that google's tool bar isn't nice and all - but its much better to use something open source that doesn't censor results for opressive [google.com] regimes [google.cn]
      • Even better, there's an extension that allows right-click searches to select between those search engines. At the moment I can't find it, however; anyone remember the name?

        There are other extensions that give you a big collection of search choices, but I like the single configuration system.

      • Re:mmmm, IMDB (Score:3, Insightful)

        by poot_rootbeer ( 188613 )
        its much better to use something open source that doesn't censor results for opressive regimes

        Which would be whom, exactly?

        ALL SEARCH ENGINES that do business in China are filtering results there as per the local laws. The reason Google is being singled out for doing it is because their motto is "Don't Be Evil". We EXPECT evil from the likes of MSN and Yahoo.
      • Just as a point of interest, when I checked out your google.cn link, it took me about 2 minutes of casually surfing images to find the famous tank picture on somebody's Chinese blog.
        People don't generally repress well.

      • In between your music searches, search for a job on indeed, using their toolbar button [google.com].

        "... get a job, sir." -- the big lebowski [imdb.com]

    • Re:mmmm, IMDB (Score:5, Informative)

      by Tx ( 96709 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @10:29AM (#14606509) Journal
      I'd love to be able to search IMDB of Gracenote from google toolbar

      I find quicksearches much better for specialized searches. I just type "imdb " in the address bar, and hey presto, less clicks than using a toolbar.

      In case you don't know about FF quicksearches, you just create a bookmark with e.g. "http://us.imdb.com/find?q=%s" as the location, and "imdb" as the keyword.
    • What happened to <right click in desired search engine keyword box>, select "Add keyword for this search", then you can do ^T (new tab) type "cddb whatever_cd_name" <enter>

      The firefox search engine toolbar thingee is overrated. You can do whatever you want entirely and efficiently from the keyboard.

    • Re:mmmm, IMDB (Score:3, Informative)

      by avanspronsen ( 950936 )
      You can :-) With the toolbar installed go to the imdb site. Right click in the sites search field and select generate custom search. You will get a custom button and imdb will be added to the dropdown list of the google search box on the toolbar.
    • type "site:imdb.com Paul Newman" into your search box.
    • A blog/podcast search of some kind would be nice also. Google DOES have its own blog search site, so why not make it easier to access?

  • Great idea!! (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @10:15AM (#14606426)
    Now if only it would allow you to search multiple search engines like Firefox's built in search.

    Yes, I think Google will get right on that.

  • unholy lust? (Score:5, Funny)

    by NiteShaed ( 315799 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @10:17AM (#14606433)
    "although the shared bookmarks thing creates unholy lust in my heart"

    dear god do you ever need to get out more....

    • Re:unholy lust? (Score:5, Funny)

      by digitaldc ( 879047 ) * on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @10:27AM (#14606494)
      "although the shared bookmarks thing creates unholy lust in my heart"

      dear god do you ever need to get out more....

      Nah man, its cool - some bookworms have an understanding about sharing, and prefer not to be in a binding relationship.
    • The only problem with this is (it appears, anyway) that the bookmarks have to be stored on google's servers. Google already knows enough about me from my searches. I don't need them knowing what bookmarks I've got (I don't use Gmail either, for exactly that reason). What would *really* be cool is if your bookmarks could be stored and retrieved by ftp, then you could put them on any ftp server you trust.

  • Undocumented Feature (Score:5, Funny)

    by Jumper99 ( 51637 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @10:19AM (#14606451)
    And since everything can be tied to your Google account, Google promises not to share any information gathered with the US Government. They will, however, send all your data to China.

    • Re:Undocumented Feature (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward
      But it won't make it past the filter if it's incorrectly spelled.
    • And since everything can be tied to your Google account, Google promises not to share any information gathered with the US Government. They will, however, send all your data to China.


      Which the US government will buy from the Chinese who are more than happy to sell it back to.

  • Software Tie Ins (Score:5, Insightful)

    by hamlet2600 ( 739627 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @10:21AM (#14606458)
    For all of Google's amazing technology they don't do a very good job of linking things together. They have "Pack" which has Firefox in it, yet they don't update the toolbar for it! How can you support something in one area, then not integrate it into your existing offerings?? duh.
    • To me the fact that it's beta is a good enough reason for this. If it was a final release I would agree though.
    • I agree... huge problem here. Their deskbar, while allowing custom searches, doesn't work with Google desktop search, or Google Maps very well. Most of their software seems to be developed in a vacuum without much cross-referencing between other google products or outside products.
    • They have "Pack" which has Firefox in it, yet they don't update the toolbar for it!

      First off, V4 of the toolbar is in beta. This means it is under development, and Google is choosing to share it with us before it is finished! Why should they take the effort to port it to Firefox before it is finished? Do you expect them to be constantly porting while they develop the thing?

      Second, it's free! You, my friend, are a beggar and a chooser.
    • Because the IE googlebar was in a releasable state first, idiot. There's no reason to wait on the Firefox version to release the IE version.

  • Other Search Engines (Score:5, Informative)

    by The MAZZTer ( 911996 ) <(megazzt) (at) (gmail.com)> on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @10:24AM (#14606477) Homepage
    Now if only it would allow you to search multiple search engines like Firefox's built in search.

    Actually, according to Google, custom buttons can be easily made to use whatever search engine you want. Even if one isn't in the online gallery, Google claims it only takes about 3 lines of text to create a new button.
  • .. a filter that blocks out things non friendly to the communist government of China?

  • Do people actually log-in when searching Google? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by mrfett ( 610302 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @10:36AM (#14606554) Homepage Journal
    Given all the coverage of the myriad ways in which governments have begun collecting data on their citizen's internet use habits, does anyone actually use these features and log-in to Google.com? You couldn't pay me to use their value-added features. I'm surprised anyone cares about the bookmark feature, as I'm under the impression it only works when you're logged-in.

    It's bad enough they can trace your quasi-anonymous browser. At least they have to work for your identity in that case. I'm not willing to make it any easier for big brother than it already is.

    • Re:Do people actually log-in when searching Google (Score:4, Insightful)

      by friedmud ( 512466 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @10:48AM (#14606645)
      Some of us don't have _anything_ to hide. I would gladly give all of my surfing data to whomever wishes to have it....

      If they will use it for serving me ads that are about things I like then to me that's a plus.... but I guess that's just me.

      Why all the paranoia? What is everyone doing on the web that they don't want others to see?

      Friedmud
      • Why all the paranoia? What is everyone doing on the web that they don't want others to see?

        We are exercising our right to privacy in our own home is what we are doing. If you, as you put it, would "gladly give that up", what other rights are you willing to give up?
      • What is everyone doing on the web that they don't want others to see?

        Paying my credit card bill? Inquiring about the status of my Social Security account?
        • Since when do you perform these activities through Google.com? I can't say I have ever checked my bank account information, or anything else of the sort, through a search engine.

          I log into Google.com simply because my computer is a single user computer, and I leave myself logged into Gmail.com, which also leaves me logged into Google.com.

          You people are being dumb. Google receives hundreds of millions of search queries a day. Do you honestly think someone is sitting on the other end monitoring *everyone's* s
      • i don't think i'm being paranoid, just practical. when ppl give governments permission to infringe their rights, those governments ALWAYS abuse the privilege. if you follow a link to an article about the new Palestinian documentary that was nominated for an Academy Award, and that sight happens to be hosted by some group linked to 'terrorism', you could find yourself on a secret list, perhaps unable to fly. This stuff happens to regular people. Between the NSA spying and the regular FBI spying, chances are
      • Why should I let other people know what I'm doing? It's my business, not theirs.

        Besides, the more information you let out about you, the more junk mail and the like you'll get, both email and snail mail. Both are a waste of resources like trees and electricity.
      • Some of us don't have _anything_ to hide. I would gladly give all of my surfing data to whomever wishes to have it....

        How do you know? Privacy is like Pandora's Box - once you let your information out, it is no longer under your control. If you change your mind, there is nothing you can do to get your privacy back.

        I am reminded of DejaNews, ironically now acquired by Google. When Deja first came-up online there was a lot of consternation by people who had said silly things on usenet in the past, things t

    • Re:Do people actually log-in when searching Google (Score:5, Informative)

      by Zathrus ( 232140 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @10:49AM (#14606653) Homepage
      does anyone actually use these features and log-in to Google.com

      If you use gmail or Google Talk then you're logged in. Some people also use Personal Google [google.com] which requires you to login to be of any use.

      I'm unsure if Google News customization uses cookies or just login. I know it can use login -- if you're logged in then your customizations will be shared to any browser that you login under. I think it used to remember customization by cookies though (and may still if you're not logged in).

      I'm not willing to make it any easier for big brother than it already is.

      And yet you logged into /. instead of posting as an AC... your tin foil hat is slipping.

      I haven't bothered looking at the new toolbar since it's IE only, but one think I've always looked for in "shareable bookmarks" is the ability to partially share -- to either mark some bookmarks as "do not share" or (better) different groupings that can be shared independantly. I know that there's some bookmarks on my home machines that I simply don't want coming anywhere near my work system. Ahem.
      • http://simpy.com/ [simpy.com] does it pretty well. You can mark links public/private, create groups of users (ie your household). One thing I don't like is the firefox sidebar. But a simple bookmark to simpy.com and I can then manually search, enter a new bookmark, etc.
        • I only signed up to http://www.simpy.com/ [simpy.com] yesterday and I'm already a fan.

          I'd always thought about having a shared bookmark facility and only now, ten years later, have I managed to get around to doing it. It's great when you're using several computers at once; all I miss is the really simple list format from clicking Bookmarks in Firefox or IE. Sometimes all I want is a list, devoid of clever tags or links.

          However, now that Google Toolbar is being released with similar functionality, the "average" user w
          • I looked all over for hacks to Google to do bookmarks, like the ones that can post files in GMail and treat it like a hard drive in Windows, but nothing came up. The personalized Google page allows you to type a few bookmarks, but it's not a complete solution when you have more than ten. You have to prioritize there. With Konqueror being my primary browser, things like Google Toolbar just won't get used that much for me. One of Konq's top features is that Flash doesn't work. That more than makes up for
      • I think it used to remember customization by cookies though

        That is correct. Google News will remember your customziations by Cookie for your current computer. Google News will also remember your customziations by Login Account, and you can use those Customizations each computer that you log into.

        Same thing with Google Search Preferences really... those can be stored by Cookie or stored by account.

        And then here's the tricky part-- if you log into your Gmail or Google Groups account, your personal preferences
      • And yet you logged into /. instead of posting as an AC... your tin foil hat is slipping.

        ok if Bush is going to subpoena /. for my browsing/posting habits, i'm _REALLY_ in trouble. in all seriousness though, the danger is in these far-reaching requests for user data. the tactic has been to cast a wide net and apparently mine all the data they get for whatever they find useful. that data DOJ collects could be kept for years, long enough to map every detail of it and come up with a pretty accurate portrait o

    • 15 years ago I might have been able to have this same worry, today is much different. Today I have no illusions of privacy. Between magazine subscriptions/library cards/CC's/Mortgage/motorcycle loan/job/ISP/cell phone/drivers license somebody out there knows more about me than I do ;) As long as Google.com does its best to play nice with me and provides value they know all they want.

  • 64-bit windows (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Jarlsberg ( 643324 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @10:40AM (#14606583) Journal
    Hmf. Doesn't seem to work well with the 64-bit version of IE. (Not that they claimed it would)

    Installing works fine, but it's gone when I restart the browser, and there's no sign of it in the View->Toolbars menu. Bummer :(

    • My guess is the toolbar successfully installed itself under the 32-bit version of IE. Find the shortcut for that (or go hunt down the .exe) and the toolbar should magically appear.
      • Actually, it didn't. I did check that one too. I haven't tried actually installing it with the 32-bit version, though, but since it's a completely separate application, it really shouldn't matter one way or the other.

  • And more soon? (Score:2, Funny)

    by lovebyte ( 81275 ) *
    Soon, we will be able to download music [google.com] from the toolbar too, probably.
  • The Google Deskbar doesnt work on XP64 for some reason. Even when installing Google Desktop the deskbar option doesn't work.

    I guess that's the price to pay to be on the bleeding edge.
  • I have been wondering about a way to do synchronized bookmarks between my stationary and my laptop. Is there any such tool for firefox wich doesn't involve storing my bookmarks with google (or any other provider), but rather host it on a protected area of my own website ?

  • Tutorial: Google Toolbar Custom Button (Score:5, Informative)

    by Virtual Karma ( 862416 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @11:00AM (#14606760) Homepage
    I tried adding a custom button for my project and the whole process was quick and easy. Here I have explained what I did [blogspot.com]. Hope it helps...
  • There is a firefox extension which lets you do the search on different search engines, but I donot know any for internet explorer. However the concept used in clusty search engine looks good.
  • I haven't looked at it, but is google trying to compete with social bookmarking websites like del.icio.us with this new functionality?

  • Requested feature (Score:5, Interesting)

    by dada21 ( 163177 ) * <adam.dada@gmail.com> on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @11:15AM (#14606861) Homepage Journal
    I'd love to see Google start to aggregate comparisons of articles. I believe they have this power and it would be very nice to see it implemented.

    My most basic description (of a very difficult process, I'd gather), is to have the Toolbar offer an "Originality" rating. If the article is not like any other article, it is rated 100%. If the article is available elsewhere, it is 0%. You should be able to click the rating and be taken to a Google site that lists the similar articles in date format -- who posted first?

    This might also work to aggregate comparisons of items, or reviews, or something of the sort.

  • customization issues (Score:2, Interesting)

    by szembek ( 948327 )
    I just installed the toolbar and it went well, I for one like the send to Gmail feature. I have however noticed some issues which I hope they change before finalizing this release. The first is that it adds 8 items into the IE context menu with no way to customize which items are there. I personally don't have any desire to access any of these features from the context menu and I would prefer to clean them up out of my context menu. Similarly I would like to remove 'Blogger' and 'SMS' from the Send to drop-

  • what? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by lonasindi ( 914571 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @11:24AM (#14606927)
    Now if only it would allow you to search multiple search engines like Firefox's built in search

    What? It's -google- toolbar....
  • I use the Bookmarks Synchronizer [geckozone.org] extension. Saves and loads from any FTP.

  • This is all well and dandy, (Score:3, Interesting)

    by edmicman ( 830206 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @12:22PM (#14607402) Homepage Journal
    but, well, I already use sites like delicous or an FTP bookmark synchronizer. I do have some bookmarks on my google/ig page, which I've used as my start page, but what does this toolbar really gain me? Where the heck is the google calendar so I REALLY organize my life around google? Seriously, that's the one thing that's lacking - gmail's got the email covered, the start page works as a suitable portal (for the most part), but I still am either tied to Outlook through work, or the crapulance that is Sunbird, or trying to integrate my own (webcalendar).

  • Yeah..... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by doogieb ( 178045 )
    Now if only it would allow you to search multiple search engines like Firefox's built in search. Yeah, like there are other search engines!

  • "Custom Buttons" (Score:3, Informative)

    by utexaspunk ( 527541 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @01:19PM (#14608036)
    You can already create buttons that function like those in this toolbar using Firefox. You can also move them up to the menu bar to save space. See the bottom of my tutorial [blogspot.com] on optimizing Firefox.
  • The only reason I stick with the Google Toolbar is for the spell-check feature. I'd happily go with Googlebar Lite [mozilla.org] if I could fine a useable standalone spell-checker extension. Unfortunately, neither AspellFox [mozilla.org] nor SpellBound [sourceforge.net] eem to pass the "does it actually work" test. :(
  • Is there a good extension out there that will let you keep your bookmarks (and other things like browser history, cookie-database, password database, etc) on a central server? Preferrably one under your own control, rather than one run by a Big Corp?

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