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"Google has made it possible for us to have instant information gratification. Just start typing the first letters of your search word and the site intuits your question and offers you the smartest choice of answers. Seems simple enough. But as quick and facile as the process is, there are ways to be even more efficient, more search-savvy. And it's our responsibility to teach kids how to find and research information, how to judge its veracity, and when it's time to ask for a grownup's help. I spoke to Daniel Russell, Google's "search anthropologist" in charge of Search Quality and User Happiness (yes, really), who brought to light some important tips you may not have known."

If you use Google to search you need to check this out

"I've been reading snippets of Eli Pariser's book, The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding From You. He leads off the book with a discussion of the effect of Google's "personalization" feature on the ranking of search results. This feature uses 54 signals (what browser version you're using, your prior searches, geographic location, and so on) to customize search results for each user. Pariser was concerned about this and tested it by asking two friends to run the same search at the same time and comparing the results. He found that the results were disturbingly different, and concluded that search engines are "increasingly biased to share our own views. More and more, your computer monitor is a kind of one-way mirror, reflecting your own interests while algorithmic observers watch what you click.""

I have been updating my collections of search engines - adding in new ones that I've previously blogged about and removing ones that no longer exist. It's of course not a complete listing - some I simply have ignored as I really don't rate them, others I just don't know about! However, the majority of them are ones that I think are worth looking at in different subject areas. There's more to search than Google. If you have time, please take a look, and consider trying out some new ones. You can access them all via my 'Which Search Engine When' page and pull down menus, but here's an overview.

"A quiet revolution has taken place in recent months, as Google, Microsoft, Facebook, and other internet gatekeepers have revised their search algorithms in an attempt to bring users more personalized information. This subtle shift has enormous implications for students, researchers, and society at large, experts say. When web surfers use Google or Bing to look for information about, say, the national debt, the search results they now see at the top of the page might differ from those of their neighbor. That's because all the major search engines have revamped their formulas to include social media data as key indicators of a website's importance."

"Today's students have grown up in the digital age, and are generally accustomed to having questions answered at the click of a button-but that doesn't mean they all know how to conduct meaningful, thorough research. Studies show that while a majority of students turn to search engines when conducting research, most of them are behind the times when it comes to utilizing keywords or smart search methods to retrieve the best possible results. Three in four college students monitored were deemed incapable of conducting a "reasonably well-executed" Google search, and for many educators, the concern is that while students do have a great deal of data at their disposal, most of them don't know the best way to access it. "

"YOUR search history contains some of the most personal information you will ever reveal online: your health, mental state, interests, travel locations, fears and shopping habits. And that is information most people would want to keep private. Unfortunately, your web searches are carefully tracked and saved in databases, where the information can be used for almost anything, including highly targeted advertising and price discrimination based on your data profile."

Get information on Google's newest search features and learn tips from basic to advanced. For even more on Google search, explore our Playground of fun features, or go "Under the Hood" to explore the technology that powers your searches.

"Google is an even cleverer beast than you thought until now, and this new Google Search Tricks infographic provides a handy guide for 13 of the most useful shortcuts you can use to make your search experience a whole lot more efficient, faster and easier…and more fun to boot."

This series from Mashable has a number of posts looking at the world of search and how it is/will develop.

Teachers and students can use Gooru to search for rich collections of multimedia resources, digital textbooks, videos, games and quizzes created by educators in the Gooru community. Gooru is free (of cost and ads) and developed by a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to honor the human right to education. Search for the best multimedia resources on the web. Customize your favorite resources, collections and quizzes. Study from collections of resources created by teachers. Interact with the Gooru community of teachers and students. Practice with enhanced quizzes that provide instant feedback. Share your knowledge about topics you are passionate about.

"The day when your hat can extrapolate your mood from your brain activity and make a spa appointment on your behalf may not be far away. The next big thing in the digital world won't be a better way for you to find something. If a confluence of capabilities now on the horizon bears fruit, the next big thing is that information will find you. Welcome to contextual search, a world where devices from your phone to your appliances will join forces in the background to make your life easier automatically."

"Using Google Search is making us believe we are more knowledgeable and intelligent than we actually are. That's not necessarily an easy idea to swallow, but sometimes the truth hurts. The harsh reality is that although search engines enable us to find out all sorts of information in a very short period of time, this is not a marker of our intelligence. We are not the only primates who have learned to use tools to our advantage."

The RSS search engine will help you discover RSS feeds on the web around your favorite topics.

"IconArchive is a professional tag based icon search engine with more than 330,000 icons for web developers, end users and graphic artists. Also it is an inspiration source for new design ideas and a place to enjoy beautiful icons. You can collect, organize & share your favorite icons here with ease. If you want to customize your desktop, you can download icons for all operating systems, Win, Mac & Linux. Website or Software developers with demand for custom icon design could search for professional icon artists here. This may result in freelance jobs and/or design help for projects of any size. On our icon artists page you can select artists offering custom icon design."

"You may have heard of Wolfram Alpha, which is a "computational knowledge engine." That makes it sound a bit scary, but it's a great tool once you can wrap your head around it. Apple's Siri uses Wolfram Alpha for 25% of its searches. You can leverage that magic and put Wolfram Alpha to work for you - the empty search box on its homepage holds endless possibilities."

"THE ULTIMATE WORD SEARCH MAKER Step 1) Add words to your puzzle Step 2) Copy and paste the code into your website It's that easy to make free word search puzzles!"

Teachers and students can use Gooru to search for rich collections of multimedia resources, digital textbooks, videos, games and quizzes created by educators in the Gooru community. Gooru is free (of cost and ads) and developed by a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to honor the human right to education.

Today's infographic shows how information is scattered everywhere-across hard-drives, the cloud, e-mail, and locked away in the memory of your co-workers. Trying to navigate the unavoidable influx of spam and remembering where something is stored can be overwhelming. Searching for and actually finding the information you need is often futile.

"Welcome to ZapSplat.com, the web's fastest growing free sound effects and royalty free music download library. All the free sounds and music on this site were recorded by professional sound designers. You can use our sound effects and music in your projects be them commercial, non-commercial and even for broadcast. We add approximately 300 new sound effects every week so if what you need isn't yet available, please check back soon! Please search for your sounds using the search box above or by browsing our comprehensive categories here."

"If you do a Google search about how much information Google really controls, there's a little bit of hyperbole (from users) out there. There's a litany of searches like 'Google wants to own your mind', 'Google wants to control you'. There's also a 'Google wants to teach computers regret' which is just creepy, really. Those living in fear of a barcode on their psyche have been prolific with their concerns, no doubt about it. But they're not totally barking up the wrong tree. Just ask Google. Its own mission statement says this: "Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." Luckily, its motto is 'don't be evil'. Right guys?"

Check out the G-Male movie, very funny and thought provoking all at the same time.