Yes, I can now stop parsing CNET, Digital Trends, Forbes, GigaOM on Twitter for the latest Technology News. I’ve just rediscovered Google Alerts, a apparently long forgotten Internet tool that allows you to track your favourite thing as its published online.
Look on it as the equivalent of signing up for RSS Feeds in Mozilla Thunderbird as described in Portable Email Clients for USB Drives makes Sending Email Safe and Mobile or even Google Reader, but able to scan the Google Search Provider instead of just a select set of News sources. I’m still not quite sold on it though, as an article published in Forbes by writer Kashmir Hill seems to suggest it’s not working properly.
So I’ve decided to give it a whirl, especially after I realized that artiste Katy Perry used Google Alerts to keep track of what people were saying about her, albeit she has now stopped caring [3]. I care, though not what people say about me, but rather about technology. So Google Alerts may be just what I’m looking or to cure my Twitter obsession!
The setup’s easy. First search for Google Alerts by typing the search query “Google Alerts” in the Google Search Provider as shown below.
Then click on it. You should then see the following webpage for Google Alerts come up
At this point you need to log into your Google Account. Click on the Sign In Button to login and sign in with the same email account that you wish to receive your Google Alerts.
Once you login you should come to a page that looks somewhat like this one. It’s where you begin if you have absolutely no alerts, as in my case. At this point click on Try creating one to start the process, which should take you to this place.
Now there a ton of things I specifically would like to keep track of. But for this example, I’ll zero in on my main thing, that being Chromebooks. I’ve tailored the Search results to filter down the news so that I’m not flooded with a lot of emails. Thus that’ll be my main Search term that I’ll use and Google Alerts should send me a batched email with hyperlinks pertaining to every reference relating to the subject matter.
Over the next few days I’ll be using Google Alerts for my news. If this service is as good as it sounds, then I might stop visiting Twitter so often and I might even park Thunderbird. In fact, I’ll even go as far as recommending that Google should integrate into Google+ to counteract the coming Paper service being offered by Facebook as per my article Facebook adds Trending Topics with Paper coming to make reading the News easier.
Stay tuned, as Google Alerts may be a Diamond in the Rough coming to adorn Google+ as they march towards the Iron Throne with their Three Dragons: Google Android, Google+ and Google Chrome OS as noted in Winter is Coming as Google+ is on a collision course to beat Facebook by 2016.
Fire and Blood on Facebook as Winter is Coming!