Google | What is google’s Offering?

Google offers some great web tools, and I use them extensively.

I use Google Mail (aka Gmail) for my mail. I forward all of my mail (and I have quite a few different email addresses) to my Gmail mailbox. Reading it via the Web interface is better than Mac Mail (100 to a page makes it quick to scan, and the search is excellent). I can use POP or IMAP if I want. The spam filtering is the best I know of. 6Gb+ mail box. 20Mb send/receive. This is the modern way with email, and I recommend this approach to all my clients.

Google Calendar is free and has recently joined my favourites list. I’ve given up on iCal (after the clunky Leopard upgrade and unfixable time zone issues that waged war on my schedule). It is really good. Default reminder settings mean I get an email reminder a day before and a screen alert an hour before. Plus a daily schedule emailed to me. Perfect. It is also (surprisingly) the easiest calendar tool I’ve ever used for creating appointments.

Google Reader is the free RSS reader of choice. If you use it you’ll know why.

Google Analytics is the free web analytics package I use myself, recommend to my clients, and integrate with by default for our OM4 sites.

Google AdWords allows you to run ads on Google’s search and content network. If you only try one search advertising tool, this should be the one.

Use Google Alerts to stay in touch with breaking news and blog posts relating to your keywords of interest.