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The search engine Google has added five new features to help
Internet users find more information on the topic they are
looking for. These new features are available now on Google.com
to English-language users throughout the world and in the
coming months it will be available in international versions.
The new features include:
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Area Code Information: Enter a U.S. telephone
area code into a Google search box (e.g. 760), and results
feature a thumbnail map naming the geographic region at
the top of the results page. Clicking the thumbnail displays
the full Mapquest map of the area, a less useful result
since it's an approximation, not an exact map, of the
area code's coverage zone.
- Universal Product Codes: Want information about
a specific product? Enter its Universal Product Code (UPC),
the number on the bottom of a bar code displayed on product
packaging into the Google search box (e.g.: 074101420241).
If the product can be found, results include a link to the
UPC Database for more information.
This feature isn't well implemented--two of the three
tests I ran for reasonably common products returned zero
results. Whether that's a problem with Google or the UPC
Database isn't clear. You also need to be careful to enter
all digits of the UPC code, including leading and trailing
digits outside of the barcode, or you may not get results,
either.
-
Flight Tracking: Enter an airline name or code
and a flight number (e.g.: UA 44) and you'll get two links
to flight information, from Travelocity and fboweb.com.
This feature works well and is robust, accepting variations
on the example above such as "united 44" and
"ual 44", two other ways of referring to United
Airlines. It only appears to work for major airlines,
however--I got no results for either Frontier or ATA airlines.
-
Vehicle ID Numbers: Entering a Vehicle ID number
(VIN) (e.g. JM1BJ225431140254) returns a link from carfax.com
for a page with more information about the year, make
and model of a specific car.
-
U.S. Postal Service Tracking Numbers: USPS tracking
numbers generate a direct link to the USPS Web site with
information about the shipping status of a package.
Search
Engine Watch January 13, 2004
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