Many of you might have heard of Google’s highly publicized stunts like the Self-driving cars or smart contact lenses or the internet-bearing balloons etc.
Google is the highest earning top innovative company of the world and has many fanboys myself included. The spine to Google’s business is, of course, its dominating search engine. You might also have heard of Gmail and Google Maps, but these are the most popular of Google’s service. You will really be surprised to know that how many Google services exist and how by a little digging around Google’s site can reveal many productive applications. Some Google developed themselves, others it acquired. But the thing is that Google owns it all now.
So here top 13 little known awesome Google services you might not be using:
1. Trendalyzer or Gapminder
It is also known as Gapminder. It is a Google service that helps to straightforwardly put together interactive bubble charts which awesomely animate your statistics. This is indeed a great way for you to make your presentations and figures fun, easy and colourful; thus making them stand out. Furthermore, information visualization is easier to understand as compared with raw data and facts.
2. Google nGrams
Google nGrams is an interesting little fun tool that enables you to have a lookup for words in nearly 5 million books circulated between 15th century and 2008 so you can find out how they’ve been changed and used over time. The word pattern give you a brief insight into a particular trend used by authors.
It’s an interesting tool as it offers you to use wildcards as well. For example, if you write Newton *, then it’ll show you phrases with most common uses.
3. Google Goggles
Using this tool you can now really search everything. Just take a picture and let Google search bots crawl its database. On finding the image in there, Google will do what it does at its best: to provide you with useful information.
On 20th August 2018, the final version of Google goggle was released. The app was made available for smartphones. Right now, Google has replaced it with Google Lens. Additionally, there was literally Google Glasses released in February 2013, which allowed users to look at the world through technological reality – Augmented Reality.
4. reCAPTCHA
Yes, reCAPTCHA is another Google product. Recaptcha is the annoying, skewed and distorted pieces of text that people are queried to work out on the website to confirm that you are human. Yes, one may find them pesky, but we are utterly unaware of the super-secret alternative life that reCAPTCHA puzzles lead.
reCAPTCHA gives the user with two words not initially readable by your device – one of them has been verified and one word that has not been. If you verify by typing both words correctly, you gain access to the website, so in this way a user not only confirms that they are human, they also contribute to verify the other word. You see, in this ingenious method, the puzzles are used to digitize old printed materials. According to statistics, there are nearly 200 million CAPTCHA puzzles being resolved around the world on each day, thus making a considerable input to getting old, pre-computer texts onto the Web.
5. Google SketchUp
This is a great app that is ‘incredibly useful’ among the Google products. This app lets you build anything in 3D from skyscrapers to coffee pots. Visit the community gallery for additional motivation.
There are different packages available for this online software. The price is affordable and from students to businessmen, each one can pay according to his pocket.
6. Panoramio
This is a photo-sharing community that asks people to share their taken pictures of the world mixed up over the Google maps tool. It allowed people sitting in far off areas to understand the look and feel of a distant place.
Back in 2016, Google discontinued Panoramio. The feature has been incorporated in Google Maps. Now, if anyone visits Google Maps, not only he can enter street view but also look at the available pictures. Google has evolved Google Maps into a comprehensive product.
7. Google Fonts
Using this, you can discover a gorgeous font that you can utilize for free. The amazing library is full of different styles, weights and designs when it comes to fonts. You can include these fonts in your documents, websites or flyers.
8. Google Sites
Basic and straightforward: this is an efficient way to build a website from zero – or using a pre-existing template. Use this to build one for your burgeoning company or for just because this is so fun and easy.
Google updated this service, as of May 2021 the classic sites will not be available for creation. Google is asking the old sites to be converted to new sites. These new sites have a better editor and designer interface.
9. Google Art Project
In order to make this service available, Google worked together with art establishments all over the world to provide people an opportunity to see exotic art from the coziness of their homes. If nothing else, you’ll certainly feel more refined!
10. Google Shopper
Crammed with features that display you everything from the barcode of item details, every day and nearby deals, to the capability for voice search of an item, Google Shopper enables you to shop in a much efficient and smarter way. It provides you with detailed prices and the available discount deals.
11. Google Wedding Planner
Being married soon? Google can assist you in planning your wedding, by supervising you through releasing the news, finding a venue, establishing a website and more.
The feature was announced back in 2011. It appears that as of 2021 it didn’t get much acceptance and was officially discontinued. If you visit, Google’s Weddings URL, it gives you a 404 error. However, it was a good project as it allowed the user to think of using Google services like sheets, sites and photos for a better-planned event.
12. Google Body
This service is now called Zygote Body. The software was developed by Google and was open-sourced in 2012. Zygote, who provided originally the imagery for Google Body, later used the software to make its version.
Zygote Body delivers a 3D human model around which the user can rotate, scroll and zoom. A user can virtually explore the body, layer by layer or by zooming on certain body parts, like nerves, bones or organs.
13. Google Ad Grants
You will most likely be familiar with Google AdWords. This is the platform that enables individuals and organizations to buy ad spaces on the sides of Google search page. For a non-profit organization, however, they do not need to pay. By way of its Ad Grants service, Google provides non-profit organizations US$10,000 per month for AdWords advertising right inside their search results. Why? Because Google cares for the right causes.
If you are a non-profit that believes that its purpose is related to the future of humanity, then make sure you visit Google Ad Grants.
Article Log:
- First published on: January 4, 2015
- Second Revision: June 25, 2021
