Take the power of Google with you anywhere on the Web with the Google toolbar. You can use it to see the "PageRank" popularity score of any page you are viewing, search within the particular site you are viewing, see a previous of "cached" copy of any dead pages, find pages similar to the one you are viewing, block pop-ups and more. Available for Internet Explorer and Firefox.
Enhanced Search Box - Search smarter with instant suggestions, spelling corrections, and history as you type
Safe Browsing - Get warnings about web pages that may be unsafe
SpellCheck - Check your spelling whenever you type in web forms
AutoFill - Automatically fill out forms for faster online shopping
Editorial Review
Google has retained its dominant position of towering above all other search engines with its advanced search algorithm for years. Unsurprisingly, Google carries over its commitment to an excellent product in its other offerings as well. The Google toolbar for the Firefox browser is certainly no exception. Google also offers its toolbar for Internet Explorer users as well.
Downloading and installing the Google toolbar is simple enough. Simply restart the Firefox browser and it’s automatically installed. The process is the same for IE.
The Google toolbar features the Google search window at the far left. This seems redundant, since Google search is already enabled by default in Firefox’s browser. Users can simply get rid of the Firefox search window by selecting the “Replace Firefox Search Box” function in the Options menu.
The Search button allows users to access various areas of Google search such as images, news, Froogle, and Google maps. There is a site search function as well. Previous searches are shown on the right side of the toolbar making it possible to have multiple searches open simultaneously, which can save time and effort.
Other buttons across the toolbar include access to Gmail, news, bookmarks, and a highlighting function that actually works, as opposed to highlighting functions offered by inferior toolbars. The Autolink button allows user to access more information available on web pages through Google’s extensive databases such as addresses and maps.
Sitting in the middle of the Google toolbar is Google’s Page Rank indicator, a small bar that shows Google’s rank of a website’s popularity on a scale of 1 to 10. Google’s page rank is an approximate indicator of the authority the website being viewed, as it takes many facets of the website into consideration including how many links are pointing the site, its age, and its content, as well as other criteria that Google keeps secret.
The Google toolbar really begins to shine when the full extent of its options are seen under the Settings tab. Buttons can be added, deleted, and modified to the user’s likings. Users can also access their favorite RSS feeds through Google’s feed reader and access them all with a click of a mouse. The auto fill function intelligently allows users to avoid the hassle of redundantly filling in information that is frequently entered into web fields.
The Google toolbar is an innovative download that allows its users to access the Google universe of offerings all from directly within the browser. Its firm compatibility with powerful tools such as Gmail, Google maps, and other Google products make the Google toolbar a winner and definitely a worthy download.
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