Google Services New in 2006

As far as marketing software, tools, resources, and anything else, google is becoming quite the marketer's friend. Google does not just stop there however, they release all sorts of useful and interesting tools and services that anyone can use.

So I thought I would check out what google has released so far in 2006, and to be quite honest, it is pretty exciting. What is even more exciting is what Google is undoubtedly working on currently. But let us get to the list of tools. It is quite large for just an 8 month period, so I will not get too into any of them yet. But I will be sure to cover some ways that you can utilize Google's services in future posts.

Without further ado...... THE LIST!

Browser Sync
Google Browser Sync for Firefox is an extension that continuously synchronizes browser settings – including bookmarks, history, persistent cookies, and saved passwords – across multiple computers. It also allows users to restore open tabs and windows across different machines and browser sessions. It was launched on June 7, 2006.

Calendar
Google Calendar is a free online calendar. It is similar to those offered by Yahoo! And MSN. It was launched on April 13, 2006. Google Calendar can export calendar files in iCAL and XML formats. It can import calendar files from Microsoft Outlook, Yahoo! Calendar and iCAL. Features include: simple Google-style interface, calendar sharing, Gmail integration, and "Quick Add".

Co-op
Google Co-op was launched by Google on May 10, 2006. This program enables users to subscribe to two types of content feeds: (1) Content feeds from sites they trust, and: (2) Feeds of sites labelled by subject matter experts. When a user subscribes to links and labels provided by a Google Co-op contributor this information is incorporated into that user's web search results when they search for a related topic.

Finance
Google Finance features searchable US business news, opinion, and financial data. It was launched on March 21, 2006 (Official Blog Post). Features include: company-specific pages, blog search, interactive charts (with prices and news stories), information about executives, discussion groups and a portfolio.

Joga.com
Joga.com is an Internet community for those interested in soccer. It is in the mold of services such as Myspace, in that each member has their own page, and can join groups based on shared interests. The service allows a user to meet other fans, create games and clubs, access athletes from Nike, and watch and upload video clips and photos. Joga.com is a joint venture of Nike Football and Google, launched on March 29, 2006.

Mars
Google Mars provides imagery of Mars through the Google Maps interface. Elevation, visible imagery and infrared imagery can be shown. It was released on March 13, 2006, the anniversary of the birth of astronomer Percival Lowell.

Measure Map
Measure Map provides statistics for blog writers. It was launched on February 2, 2006.

News
Google News is an automated news compilation service and search engine for news. There are versions of the aggregator for more than 20 languages. While the selection of news stories is fully automated, the sites included are selected by human editors. Google News was launched in April 2002 and left beta testing on January 26, 2006.

Notebook
Google Notebook is a free service that provides a simple way to save and organize information when conducting research online. The tool permits users to clip text, images, and links from pages while browsing, save them online, access them from any computer, and share them with others. It was launched on May 15, 2006.

Pack
Google Pack allows users to download the following programs in a single package: Google Earth, Google Desktop, Picasa, Google Toolbar, Google Talk, Google Video Player, Google Pack Screensaver, Mozilla Firefox with Google Toolbar, Ad-Aware SE Personal, Norton Antivirus Special Edition 2005 (with 6 month trial), Adobe Reader 7, RealPlayer and GalleryPlayer. It was released on January 6, 2006.

Page Creator
Google Page Creator is a beta release of a web-publishing program which creates pages and hosts them on Google's servers. The URL given to members is http://username.googlepages.com/ It was launched on April 20, 2006.

Picasa Web Albums
Picasa Web Albums is Picasa’s newest feature, designed to help users post and share their photos quickly and easily on the web. It was released on June 13, 2006.

Spreadsheets
Google Spreadsheets allows the creation and editing of spreadsheets online, as well as real-time chat collaboration and editing. It was released on June 6, 2006 on a 'limited test basis'. Users were granted access on a first-come, first-serve basis after requesting to sign up.

Trends
Google Trends shows, as a graph, the popularity of particular search terms over time. Multiple terms can be shown at once. Results can also be displayed by city, region or language. Related news stories are also shown. The service was launched on May 10, 2006.

Web Toolkit
Google Web Toolkit allows users to create AJAX interfaces for their websites. Google claimed it could be used to create similar interfaces to that of Gmail and Google Calendar. It was released on May 15, 2006.

Writely
Writely is an online word-processor. On March 9, 2006 Google acquired Upstartle, the maker of Writely. It is still in beta. Writely also has a blog reporting on it's process. It looks as though sign-ups have just been opened up to the public. Check that out here.