Google Co-op

Earlier I had posted about custom search and what the different options are. Here I intend to go a little deeper into one such custom search option: Google Co-op. So what is Google Co-op?

Google Co-op is a platform that enables you to customize the web search experience for users of both Google and your own website.

Where does Google Co-op fit in? To start off, it is a great replacement for site search, this article talks about how it can be used as a site search and how it is better than other options. Of course that's only one of the ways to use this new and powerful offering by Google, and is almost like using your jet ( should you own one ) to go down to the grocery store.


What then can be done with Google Coop?

Jose Luis Reyes Tollini has written a nice introductory article that covers most of what can be done with Google Co-op. Eric Enge's article describes how to go about creating a custom search engine.


And of course the various search sites created so far demonstrate the possibilities better than I can describe here. Before I shamelessly list out these search sites, I should highlight the one created by Vik Singh. It highlights some interesting concepts which, I believe could lead to some very interesting possibilities.



Here goes the list:

Directories of custom search engines:

CSE Links
Coop Directory

And some Good CSEs:

LisZen - Library and information Science Search Engine
SearchForBooks - Like the name says: Search for books
GooTube - Find videos
GrabAJob - Job finder
FindingFunnies - Joke finder



On a not so related note Google's response to community driven search along with Jimmy Wales' ideas are worth reading.