Google Hacks

Googling with Bookmarklets

Create interactive bookmarklets to perform Google functions from the comfort of your own browser.

You probably know what bookmarks are. But what are bookmarklets? Bookmarklets are like bookmarks but with an extra bit of JavaScript magic added. This makes them more interactive then regular bookmarks; they can perform small functions like opening a window, grabbing highlighted text from a web page, or submitting a query to a search engine. There are several bookmarklets that allow you to perform useful Google functions right from the comfort of your own browser.

Tip

If you’re using Internet Explorer for Windows, you’re in gravy: all these bookmarklets will most likely work as advertised. But if you’re using a less-appreciated browser (such as Opera) or operating system (such as Mac OS X), pay attention to the bookmarklet requirements and instructions; there may be special magic needed to get a particular bookmark working, or indeed, you may not be able to use the bookmarklet at all.

Before you try any other site, try Google’s Browser Buttons (read: bookmarklets). Google Search queries Google for any text you’ve highlighted on the current web page. Google Scout performs a related: [Section 1.5][in “The Special Syntaxes"] search on the current web page.

Google’s bookmarklets are designed for the Internet Explorer browser.

Google Translate! , (http://www.microcontentnews.com/resources/translator.htm)

Puts Google’s translation [Hack #2] tools into a bookmarklet, enabling one-button translation of the current web page.

Google Jump , (http://www.angelfire.com/dc/dcbookmarkletlab/Bookmarklets/script002.html)

Prompts you for search terms, performs a Google search, and takes you straight to the top hit thanks to the magic of Google’s I’m Feeling Lucky Section 1.4[in “Google Basics"] function.

The Dooyoo Bookmarklets , (http://dooyoo-uk.tripod.com/bookmarklets2.html) collection

Features several bookmarklets for use with different search engines—two for Google. Similar to Google’s Browser Buttons, one finds highlighted text and the other finds related pages.

Joe Maller’s Translation Bookmarkets , (http://www.joemaller.com/translation_bookmarklets.shtml)

Translate the current page into the specified language via Google or AltaVista.

Bookmarklets for Opera , (http://www.philburns.com/bookmarklets.html)

Includes a Google translation bookmarklet, a Google bookmarklet that restricts searches to the current domain, and a bookmarklet that searches Google Groups [Hack #30]. As you might imagine, these bookmarklets were created for use with the Opera browser.

GoogleIt! , (http://www.code9.com/googleit.html)

Another bookmarklet that searches Google for any text you highlight on the current web page.