Monday 8 April 2013

A-Z Challenge 2013: G is for Google Alerts

Google Alerts are something I have only just come across.  If you ask Google what they are, it says "Google Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your queries."   They add that Alerts are useful in:
  • monitoring a developing news story
  • keeping current on a competitor or industry
  • getting the latest on a celebrity or event
  • keeping tabs on your favorite sports teams
I would like to add that Google Alerts are useful in genealogy.  Say you search for "Obadiah Montague", and find a number of resulting useful websites.  If you make searching for Obadiah one of your Google Alerts, then every time there is something new about him (say, somebody uploads a newspaper article they have just found), you will get an email telling you so.  You can manage the frequency to once-a-day, or once-a-week, or 'as-it-happens' - and you can create up to 1000 Alerts.

8 comments:

  1. You could go nuts with this if you have common names. Have you tried it with more information. Now I'm curious.

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  2. I didn't know all of that Ros!! Thank you so much! I also just joined your lovely blog! Have fun today, well...the rest of this month too! Sandy www.sandysanderellasmusings.blogspot.com

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  3. I used to use Google Reader, but they are ending that. Thanks for the tip.

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  4. This had slipped my mind. I will have to put a few names in.

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  5. HI All
    I set up a Google alert quite some months ago now. I was wondering whether I had done it correctly as I had received nothing. Yesterday to my delight I had my first result.
    I would say my last name (Sparrow) is not very common, but searching on a combination of Sparrow and Frome (Somerset) gives many worthless results. It include a Crane company in Frome and obviously anything to with the Sparrow bird. I have therefore filtered it further "-crane -bird" to remove those. 'Frome' needs the quotation marks, as Google will usually read it as a mistype of 'from'.
    Happy Googling
    JOhn

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  6. Mmmm. My post was also Google Alerts for Genealogy. I wonder who posted it first :)

    Great Minds think alike?

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  7. Glad to hear of your success, John - hope you have many more!

    Thanks for stopping by.

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  8. Well, Sharon - I wrote my Google Alerts post on 31 March and scheduled it to appear later. But the more, the merrier!

    Thanks for stopping by.

    ReplyDelete

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