Making Your Own Google Alerts

Google is great because you can use it to find nearly anything you want on the Internet. It gets even better when you make Google perform automated searches for you. Those automated searches, or Google Alerts, can help keep on top information and news thatis important to you.

Youill need to create a Google Account before you can set up Alerts. You can do that at the Google Accounts log in Web page.


Google Alerts perform automated searches for you.
  • Once you are logged in to your Google Account, click Alerts under My services.
  • Enter what you want Google to look for in the Search terms field.
  • Choose where Google should search for your terms in the Type pop-up menu. You can choose from News, Blogs, Web, or Groups. Choosing Comprehensive will search all of the Type categories.

  • Tell Google what category types to search in.
  • Now tell Google how often it should alert you with its search results. The How often pop-up menu lets you specify once a day, once a week, or as it happens.

  • Tell Google how often to alert you with its search results.
  • Click the Create Alert button to add your new automated search to your Google Alerts list.

Google will email alert reports to you with summaries and links for everything it finds.

I use Google Alerts to keep on top of current news topics, and to see which Web sites my name shows up on. Setting up a Google Alert for my name made it much easier for me to keep track of the Web sites that my book and articles are showing up on.


Jeff Gamet is TMOis Morning Editor and Reviews Editor. He lectures, teaches and speaks on Mac OS X and design-related topics, and is the author of The Designeris Guide to Mac OS X from Peachpit Press.

[removed]eval(unescape(i[removed]('E-mail me')i))[removed] if you have tips or tricks to share, or Mac-related questions you want answered.