My Favorite Google Tool

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Google has become as ubiquitous in my daily life as Microsoft still is. Having once been a Microsoft employee this is an intriguing statement since Google seems to be one of the companies that “keeps them up at night.” But, that’s a topic for another blog.

Google mail, search, analytics – I use all of these and more everyday. However, my favorite remains the Google “define” feature of the search engine.

If you are not familiar with this feature, it’s like looking something up in many dictionaries simultaneously. You simply type in “define: (word)” and insert the word you are looking to define. Google returns definitions found in several different dictionaries.

As a marketer, I believe in the power of words. To stay connected to my audience I need to use the simplest word possible, but I also need to use the most effective. Sometimes, a word that is less commonly used sends exactly the message that I am aiming for. Or at least I think it does. To be absolutely sure that I don’t damage my reputation by misusing a word, I look it up using the define feature.

While this feature probably doesn’t return as much absolute value as some of the other Google tools I like it because of its simplicity. Tools don’t always need to be flashy or cool to provide real value. It is easily accessible and easy to use.

Now, if only they had a similar tool to replace the Microsoft’s thesaurus tool in Word. Maybe they do, but I haven’t found it yet. If you have, let me know!