Google Alerts – Get Updates Straight To Your Inbox

If you want updates on the latest news about your favorite topics and you want them delivered straight to your inbox, then Google Alerts is just the right tool for you. Google Alerts is a free service that lets you retrieve relevant information based on your chosen topics or keywords. It currently offers six types of alert searches: comprehensive, video, news, web, groups and blogs.

A News Alert is an email that lets the subscriber know if new articles make it into the top ten results of his Google News search. A Web Alert is an email that lets the user know if new web pages appear in the top twenty results for his Google Web search. News and Web Alert, on the other hand, is an email that lets the subscriber know when new articles related to his search term make it into the top ten results for a Google News search or the top twenty results for a Google Web search. Finally, a Groups Alert is an email that lets the user know if new posts make it into the top fifty results of his Google Groups search.

Here are some handy uses of Google Alerts:

• Monitoring a developing news story.
• Keeping current on a competitor or industry.
• Getting the latest on a celebrity or event.
• Keeping tabs on your favorite sports teams.

With Google Alerts, you can determine the frequency in which Google checks for new results. There are currently three options available for Google Alerts users: once a day, once a week or as it happens. The “once a day” option, means you will receive at most one alert email per day. The “as it happens” option can result in many alert emails per day, depending on the search.

Google Alerts is a FREE service so why don’t you check it out and give it a test drive. This service certainly comes handy especially with the huge potential source of information online.