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Monday, March 31, 2003
Google Alert is the Best Thing Ever
It's better than sliced bread ever dreamt of being. It's better than a happy wife. It's better than Google itself. OK, I guess it couldn't possibly be cooler than Google itself, but, well... read on!
Google Alert is a free tool based on Google's open-source Web API that lets you tap into Google's index from your own custom, Net-connected apps. This particular implementation is super cool, although I bet only web marketing professionals or webmasters will be interested in it.
Here's what it does: you register with Google Alert, then register with Google, Inc. to receive "permission" to use the Google API (who knows what kinds of rights that Google grants itself with your innovations in its terms of service, but that's another story). Then, you can create up to 5 searches, and up to 100 automated queries per day, to be notified of changes in the Google search index for a specific search term.
For example, say you're in the wine business. You can set up a search to monitor the search results at Google on a regular basis to find out if competitors are leapfrogging you; or if you're just a consumer, you can find a new online wine store that's gaining lots of buzz.
Whatever the case may be, I'm sure there are countless innovative ways to use a tool like this, and I hope we see more things like this that help automate the laborious and boring task of monitoring your site's ranking in Google.
Posted by
Cory Kleinschmidt
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D'oh!
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