IGoogle
Encyclopedia
iGoogle a service of Google
, is a customizable Ajax
-based startpage or personal web portal
(much like Netvibes
, Pageflakes
, My Yahoo!, and Windows Live Personalized Experience). Google originally launched the service in May 2005. Its features include the capability to add web feeds
and Google Gadgets
(similar to those available on Google Desktop
).
On April 30, 2007, Google renamed "Google Personalized Homepage" to "iGoogle".
Google had made the service available in many localized versions in 42 languages, and in over 70 country domain-names. In February 2007, 7.1 million people used iGoogle. In April 2008, 20% of all visits to Google's homepage used iGoogle.
interact with the user and utilize the Google Gadgets
API. Some gadgets developed for Google Desktop
can also be used within iGoogle. The Google Gadgets API is public and allows anyone to develop a gadget for any need.
Google also allows all users to create a special gadget that does not require the use of the Gadgets API. The gadgets are designed to be shared with friends and family. The special gadgets must be created using an online wizard and must belong to one of the following types:
Some of the developer-made gadgets include:
There is a "You might also like" gadget where you can look at similar gadgets you already have.
With iGoogle, users can select unique themes for their Google homepages: some themes designed by Google itself and others by the userbase.
. Users were selected for this test and notified when they logged in by a link to a brief description and further links to forums. On the forums, it was explained that there was no opt-out, as a control
for the test. Further, there was no information on how long the test would continue. Many expressed dissatisfaction with the new version and with the inability to opt out.
On October 16, 2008, Google announced the release of this new version of iGoogle and retired its older format. The release did not initially include the persistent chat widget. It does include the left navigation in place of tabs as well as a change to widget controls, however. The stated purpose is to prepare for OpenSocial
, with the new canvas view stated as playing an important role in that. InformationWeek
reported "a vocal group of users" as unhappy with the changes, pointing out that many users do not want change forced on them, and that this is a general problem with cloud software under a service provider's control.
A workaround to restore the original tab layout was found by attaching "?gl=all" to the end of the iGoogle URL. On June 4, 2009, this workaround was eliminated. Within days, another workaround was discovered. Changing the URL ending to "?hl=all" would again restore the original tab layout, with some missing links across the top of the home page, including "Maps" and "more". This workaround was again eliminated on November 18, 2009. This led to an immediate resurrection of the controversy over user choice, both in the UK and world-wide, as many people unhappy with the new layout imposed on US users had switched to the UK Google site where the workarounds still worked. Within hours, the most frequently asked question on the help forum was how to restore the old layout, and there was a large number of feature suggestions to the same effect on the Google product ideas page. Other solutions have come to the fore, which require adds-ons, greasemonkey
scripts or bookmarklets.
, the ability to interact socially on iGoogle will be disabled starting 15th January 2012, though iGoogle and its non-social applications will stay.
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
, is a customizable Ajax
Ajax (programming)
Ajax is a group of interrelated web development methods used on the client-side to create asynchronous web applications...
-based startpage or personal web portal
Web portal
A web portal or links page is a web site that functions as a point of access to information in the World Wide Web. A portal presents information from diverse sources in a unified way....
(much like Netvibes
Netvibes
Netvibes is a personalized dashboard publishing platform for the Web including digital life management, widget distribution services and brand observation rooms.-History:The company was founded by Tariq Krim and Florent Frémont in 2005.-Technology:...
, Pageflakes
Pageflakes
Pageflakes is an Ajax-based startpage or personal web portal similar to Netvibes, My Yahoo!, iGoogle, Wikpage and Microsoft Live. The site is organized into tabs, each tab containing user-selected modules called Flakes...
, My Yahoo!, and Windows Live Personalized Experience). Google originally launched the service in May 2005. Its features include the capability to add web feeds
Web feed
A web feed is a data format used for providing users with frequently updated content. Content distributors syndicate a web feed, thereby allowing users to subscribe to it. Making a collection of web feeds accessible in one spot is known as aggregation, which is performed by an aggregator...
and Google Gadgets
Google Gadgets
Google Gadgets are dynamic web content that can be embedded on a web page. They can be added to and interact strongly with Google's iGoogle personalized home page and the Google Desktop application, as well as Google Wave...
(similar to those available on Google Desktop
Google Desktop
Google Desktop is desktop search software made by Google for Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows. The program allows text searches of a user's e-mails, computer files, music, photos, chats, Web pages viewed, and other "Google Gadgets"....
).
On April 30, 2007, Google renamed "Google Personalized Homepage" to "iGoogle".
Google had made the service available in many localized versions in 42 languages, and in over 70 country domain-names. In February 2007, 7.1 million people used iGoogle. In April 2008, 20% of all visits to Google's homepage used iGoogle.
Features
Google created the left sidebar feature to compress the size of the gadgets users want to have and to accommodate young chat users who are not interested in features such as news, weather, sports, financial markets, etc.Gadgets
iGoogle gadgetsIGoogle Gadgets
iGoogle Gadget is a Google Web API which allows users to create widgets to run in a user iGoogle page or other web page quickly and easily. Users have the ability to add a gadget to their iGoogle portal, or have it coded into their own website, by specifying a URL iGoogle Gadget is a Google Web...
interact with the user and utilize the Google Gadgets
Google Gadgets
Google Gadgets are dynamic web content that can be embedded on a web page. They can be added to and interact strongly with Google's iGoogle personalized home page and the Google Desktop application, as well as Google Wave...
API. Some gadgets developed for Google Desktop
Google Desktop
Google Desktop is desktop search software made by Google for Linux, Mac OS X, and Microsoft Windows. The program allows text searches of a user's e-mails, computer files, music, photos, chats, Web pages viewed, and other "Google Gadgets"....
can also be used within iGoogle. The Google Gadgets API is public and allows anyone to develop a gadget for any need.
Google also allows all users to create a special gadget that does not require the use of the Gadgets API. The gadgets are designed to be shared with friends and family. The special gadgets must be created using an online wizard and must belong to one of the following types:
- "Framed Photo" – displays a series of photos.
- "GoogleGram" – creation of special daily messages.
- "Sidebar - designed for middle school chat rooms
- "Daily Me" – displays user's current mood and feelings.
- "Free Form" – allows the user to input text and an image of their choice.
- "YouTube Channel" – displays videos from a YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
channel. - "Personal List" – allows the user to create a list of items.
- "Countdown" – countdown timer.
- "Daily Literary Quote" – displays literature-related quotes served up by ModeRoom Press.
Some of the developer-made gadgets include:
- "Meteo-si": displays the current weather and the weather forecast for selected area(s)
- "Ebay gadget": searches for items on EbayEBayeBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
There is a "You might also like" gadget where you can look at similar gadgets you already have.
Themes
Artist themes
In April 2008, Google began offering a choice of themes by professional artists.Experimental iGoogle
On July 8, 2008, Google announced the beginning of a testing period for a new version of iGoogle which alters some features, including replacing the tabs with left navigation, adding chat functionality, and a canvas-view gadget for RSSRSS
-Mathematics:* Root-sum-square, the square root of the sum of the squares of the elements of a data set* Residual sum of squares in statistics-Technology:* RSS , "Really Simple Syndication" or "Rich Site Summary", a family of web feed formats...
. Users were selected for this test and notified when they logged in by a link to a brief description and further links to forums. On the forums, it was explained that there was no opt-out, as a control
Scientific control
Scientific control allows for comparisons of concepts. It is a part of the scientific method. Scientific control is often used in discussion of natural experiments. For instance, during drug testing, scientists will try to control two groups to keep them as identical and normal as possible, then...
for the test. Further, there was no information on how long the test would continue. Many expressed dissatisfaction with the new version and with the inability to opt out.
On October 16, 2008, Google announced the release of this new version of iGoogle and retired its older format. The release did not initially include the persistent chat widget. It does include the left navigation in place of tabs as well as a change to widget controls, however. The stated purpose is to prepare for OpenSocial
OpenSocial
OpenSocial is a set of common application programming interfaces for web-based social network applications, developed by Google along with MySpace and a number of other social networks.It was released November 1, 2007....
, with the new canvas view stated as playing an important role in that. InformationWeek
InformationWeek
InformationWeek is a weekly print magazine, an online site with corresponding face-to-face and virtual events, and research. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California and was first published in 1979 by CMP Media, later called CMP Technology. On February 29, 2008, CMP Technology was...
reported "a vocal group of users" as unhappy with the changes, pointing out that many users do not want change forced on them, and that this is a general problem with cloud software under a service provider's control.
A workaround to restore the original tab layout was found by attaching "?gl=all" to the end of the iGoogle URL. On June 4, 2009, this workaround was eliminated. Within days, another workaround was discovered. Changing the URL ending to "?hl=all" would again restore the original tab layout, with some missing links across the top of the home page, including "Maps" and "more". This workaround was again eliminated on November 18, 2009. This led to an immediate resurrection of the controversy over user choice, both in the UK and world-wide, as many people unhappy with the new layout imposed on US users had switched to the UK Google site where the workarounds still worked. Within hours, the most frequently asked question on the help forum was how to restore the old layout, and there was a large number of feature suggestions to the same effect on the Google product ideas page. Other solutions have come to the fore, which require adds-ons, greasemonkey
Greasemonkey
Greasemonkey is a Mozilla Firefox extension that allows users to install scripts that make on-the-fly changes to HTML web page content on the DOMContentLoaded event, which happens immediately after it is loaded in the browser .As Greasemonkey scripts are persistent, the changes made to the web...
scripts or bookmarklets.
Removal of social features
On 14th October 2011, Google announced through its official blog that with its new focus on Google+Google+
Google+ is a social networking and identity service, operated by Google Inc.The service was launched on June 28, 2011, in an invite-only "field testing" phase. The following day, existing users were allowed to invite friends who were over 18 years of age to the service to create their own accounts....
, the ability to interact socially on iGoogle will be disabled starting 15th January 2012, though iGoogle and its non-social applications will stay.
External links
- iGoogle Homepage
- iGoogle Mobile Homepage
- iGoogle Gadget API Documentation
- Webpage Gadgets Directory Official Google gadgets (universal gadgets) directory.
- iGoogle Developer Blog Official source for the Gadget API and feature updates
- WC 2010 Gadget FIFA World Cup 2010 iGoogle Gadget