To Google

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia, by MultiMedia

The verb to google means "to perform a Web search", usually with the Google search engine. "Mary googled for Wikipedia references." Compare with grep. This new word arose from the tremendous popularity of the Google search engine. The American Dialect Society chose the verb to google as the "most useful word of 2002."

Another use of the word is to say that some brand or concept "does (or doesn't) google," which indicates whether or not useful information can be found on it using a quick Internet search (commonly with the Google engine). For instance, a person named David Jones, or a computer program named "Click", doesn't google, since using either as a query would return hundreds of links unrelated to the individual or program in question. Similarly, really obscure things don't google because they return no hits. Both search engines and companies try to ensure that the most relevant results are returned first; thus, virtually every well-known company googles.

The word google can also be used as a noun, meaning "search engine hit." The derivative term kilogoogle (i.e. 1000, or maybe 1024, search engine hits) is also in use, but megagoogles are rarely heard of. As such, a certain search term might score 58 kilogoogles.

Google discourages such use, fearing the dilution and potential loss of its trademark, like Yo-Yo, Xerox and escalator (see genericized trademark). The company sent a cease and desist letter to Paul McFedries, creator of wordspy.com , a website that tracks neologisms. However, Google also sells the "I Google" Tee, which uses Google as a verb on the product and in its description.

See also

• STFG — an initialism containing the word Google
• Ego surfing — self-googlization

External links

• Wordspy entry

Google Guide made by MultiMedia | Free content and software

This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.