Google can help you search blogs of interest

September 29, 2003

Adding a free "blogs I read" search box to your own weblog provides your readers with an easy way to use Google to search the web, your site or just the blogs you read.

Over the past couple of years, the personal weblog phenomenon has just exploded. As with the web, however, finding the really good blogs can be a challenge. And once you do, it's not always easy to remember which of your favorite writers wrote something truly memorable that you'd like to revisit.

Sometimes it's difficult to find even your own musings if you're a prolific blogger. The "blogs I read" search tool is an elegant solution to this information finding problem. The brainchild of eBay interface designer Micah Alpern, this search tool uses the Google API and some homegrown code to enable search on your own weblog, those you read, or to run a search of the entire Google web index.

In theory, you could use this tool on any web page, even if you don't publish a weblog. There are three requirements for using the free code. The first two relate to the blogs you read. The third is that you get a free license key from Google. You need to be using a RSS news aggregator like Radio Userland or NetNewsWire which exports a subscription file (a list of sites you read) in OPML format.

Alternately, you can run a blogroll through blogrolling.com. A blogroll is a list of sites you read frequently that you list in a column on your weblog. Though Micah graciously offers the use of his own Google license key, the terms of agreement only allow for 1000 daily queries per key. So be nice and sign up for your own Google account -- it's easy and free. Your own account also provides you with a key and with access to Google in your own language, Google answers and Google groups.

Once you've met the requirements, simply submit the URL of your weblog and your Google key, and you'll be provided with the code to insert on your page. Want more information? Read http://www.alpern.org/weblog/php/blogsearch/writeup.html for more information on the code, the philosophy behind the tool, and how you can use it to improve web search.

For a good introduction to the entire topic, check out Greg Notess' article The Blog Realm: RSS, Aggregators, and Reading the Blog Fantastic.

Article by Chris Sherman
Source: Search Engine Watch

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