Google Squared Goes Live, Formats Your Searches Into a Spreadsheet [Search Engines]
The product is still pretty raw right now, but think of it sort of like Google's short-term answer to the very cool Wolfram Alpha's structured search—with results displayed in a spreadsheet format of sorts.
Google Squared is a search tool that helps you quickly build a collection of facts from the Web for any topic you specify.
- Facts about your topic are organized as a table of items and attributes (we call them "Squares" for fun).
- Customize these Squares to see just the items and attributes you're interested in.
- See the websites that served as sources for the information in your Square.
- Save and share Squares with others.
As I said, right now the strength of results varies. One search for digital cameras, for example, produced a list of many items—viewed seven rows at a time—while the above pictured "cheese" search came up with several empty fields.
The fields themselves vary according to your search. In the digital camera query, Google Squared automatically included a product name, along with an image, description, price, design, and author fields. In addition to name, image! , and de scription, the cheese search offered texture, milk, and country fields. Google Squared lets you delete an option, add columns or click on a link to see the next 10 results.
You can also start with an empty square and sign-in to save your selections. Running your mouse over a field will produce the source; Wikipedia is a recurring one.
Try out Squared for yourself and let us know what you think and how it stacks up against Wolfram Alpha—if at all. We'll update the post once Google provides an official announcement.
Posts
