What is Google

Google is the most popular search engine because it is easy to use and provides search results in seconds.  Find out more about searching.

With a single enquiry you can search for:

• webpages
• images
• maps
• news
• videos.

iGoogle

You can also create a personal Google homepage, see iGoogle tab.

Google tools

There are also Google tools such as an online word processing software called 'Google Docs' and many more Internet-based tools.  Find out more about Google Tools.

Web search

To perform a search using Google you simply go to the Google search page, type in one or more words and click search.

Google Search

1. Open the main Google search page for the uk at www.google.co.uk*

2. Type your one or more words to search for, let's try finding about museums in Hampshire, simply type "Hampshire museum" in the search box

3. Then click on Google Search (or press the enter key on your keyboard).

Within seconds, Google displays a list of links to the sites that match your search. The more relevant a website is, the higher it will appear in the list.

Each result will include a small piece of text from the website to help you decide whether you want to visit it.

Even more results

Search results may include thousands of websites, so there will probably be many pages of results, click on a page number or Next to see more links.

* Hampshire County Council is not responsible for the content of external websites.

Google images

Google images is a great place to find all sorts of pictures.

While the Google Web engine searches for websites, Google Image scours the web for

• Photos
• Drawings
• Icons
• Maps
• Posters

To find specific pictures or images, you enter your key words in the search box and hit search images

Tip - if you have already searched for something (eg 'London Eye'), you can click on the Images link at the top of the page to see images for the same search word (eg images of the London Eye) - see below:

Google Search for London Eye

Google Images for London Eye

Google maps

Google Maps is a user-friendly mapping tool that can help you quickly find a map of any location in the World.  

You can look up travel directions and find links to related websites and photos.

Google Maps views

There are three views to Google maps - this shows part of central Winchester as:

• Map - classic map view, showing roads

• Satellite - satellite view as photographic image (can show roads as well)

• Terrain - traditional geographic view

Google Maps homepage

Go to Google Maps* and search for any location in the world.

* Hampshire County Council is not responsible for the content of external websites.

Google news

Google News is an Internet-based news site that brings together headlines from more than 4,500 English-language news sources worldwide.

It groups similar stories together and displays them according to each reader's personalised interests

Google News features

A few features of Google news include:

• personalised view: you can't read all the news every day, so set up your own personalised news page
• alerts: sign up to receive weekly, daily or as-it-happens email alerts on any topic that interests you
• news archive search: search and explore information from historical archives dating back over 200 years.

Google News homepage

Go to Google News* and either browse the top stories or search for a topic.

* Hampshire County Council is not responsible for the content of external websites.

Google Videos

Google Video is a free video sharing website which allows you to watch and upload video clips.

Google Video contains millions of videos indexed and available for viewing. Using Google Video, you can search for and watch an ever-growing collection of:

• TV shows
• movie clips
• music videos
• documentaries
• personal productions
• and more from all over the Web.

Google Video homepage

Go to Google Video* and either browse the top videos or search for a topic, you will see most of the results in YouTube format (this is because YouTube is now owned by Google - find out more about YouTube).

* Hampshire County Council is not responsible for the content of external websites.

iGoogle

iGoogle is a personalised Google homepage. You can put just about anything on it. It can include:

• date and time
• news and weather
• jokes
• pictures
• to do list.
• and much much more

To create your own iGoogle page you need to go to http://www.google.co.uk/ig*.

You will see all the options you add to your page. You can even change your theme and background colour.

* Hampshire County Council is not responsible for the content of external websites.