The New Blogger is Now Live

FYI, the new version of Blogger is now out of beta testing and officially live for everyone to use. Check it out!

Google Answers Bites the Dust

One of my favorite little "hidden secrets" in the Google empire has been shuttered. Google announced today that they're shutting down Google Answers, the service where a team of pros answered user questions for a fee. Google calls it a failed experiment, but my guess is that the company simply prefers easy automation over more complex human input. Farewell!

New Google Page Creator Features

One of the least-known of Google's offerings is Google Page Creator. This is a web page creation tool and hosting community. You use Google Page Creator to create your web pages (no HTML required) and then host those pages, for free, on Google's site. Now Google Page Creator features an image editor for all the pictures you want to post, as well as the ability to create up to three different sites, each with its own *.googlepages.com URL. In addition, all pages you create with Google Page Creator are now automatically converted for mobile use, so they'll be viewable from any mobile phone. It's a great alternative to GeoCities, AngelFire, and similar web hosting sites -- and, as with all things Google, it's completely free!

New Version of Google Desktop and Sidebar

Google has just released version 4.5 of Google Desktop. The big change in this version is an improved Sidebar, which is now transparent -- just like the sidebar in Yahoo! Widgets and Windows Vista. It looks much better on the desktop.

Google Acquires JotSpot

Google just announced that they've acquired JotSpot. If you've never heard of them, JotSpot does wikis, which facilitates the web-based creation and sharing of spreadsheets, calendars, photos, and other documents. It's all about web-based collaboration, which fits in with the "Google Office" ethos. Look for JotSpot to join the Google apps lineup sometime soon.

Blog Alerts

Just as Google has offered various types of Google search and news alerts, they're now offering Blog Alerts. This alerts you to new Blogger postings that conform to search parameters you've created. Set up your own blog alerts here.

New Google Checkout Electronic Book

And here's yet another new Google-related Digital Short Cut electronic book. Choosing an Online Payment Service: Google Checkout vs. PayPal shows both buyers and sellers how to choose between and use the two competing online payment services. It's all you've wanted to know about Google Checkout -- how it works, how to implement it on your site, and how it compares with PayPal. You can purchase and download it (in PDF format) from Que Publishing for just $5.99. Click here for more info!

New Blogger Electronic Book

Now available, my latest Digital Short Cut electronic book: Blogging with the New Google Blogger. It covers the latest version of Blogger (still in beta), from A to Z. You can purchase and download it (in PDF format) from Que Publishing, for just $5.99. Click here for more info!

Google Custom Search Engine

Google has just released a new Google Custom Search Engine that you can put on your own website. This new search engine lets you customize the look and color of search results and links; specify a list of links and sites you definitely want included in the search index; and specify links and sites you don't want included in the index. The sites you specify can either be the only sites searched, or configured to have the highest priority in the custom search results. Learn more and start creating your own custom search engine here.

Google Docs and Spreadsheets

"Google Office" is here. Google has finally done the much-anticipated integration of the Writely word processor with the existing Google Spreadsheets online app. The new online office suite is called Google Docs and Spreadsheets, and it definitely competes with Microsoft Office. Writely itself, in addition to be renamed, sports a new Googleish interface, as well. Check it out here.