‘Related’ Browser Add-On: Handy, But at Cost to Privacy

The Google Related bar is at the fundament of the browser (click to magnify image)

A swell Google browser extension called "Google Related" makes determination associated Web easygoing a snap, but for privacy-minded Web surfers the public lavatory wish come with a hefty cost. The Chromium-plate Web browser extension creates a navigation bar at the merchantman of the web browser, and as you rolling your mouse cursor over the bar Google generates calm relevant to what's on the page you're viewing.

Google announced the Web web browser extension Tuesday for its Google Chrome Web browser. The Google Related MBD-on takes the form of a toolbar for Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser. No backup for Apple's Safari, Firefox, or Opera Browser software was announced.

Google Related images (click to enlarge image)

I took the Google Related for a spin and liked information technology. It's sluttish to see how it can become one of those "must have" extensions. While the content displayed by Related may be modest in volume, it's lul important for fleshing out the content of a webpage or providing jumping off points for additional searches.

Google Related video (click to enlarge visualise)

Hera is how it works. Google Related creates a strip of buttons that belt down into prospect when you hover your pointer over the prat edge of your browser. Hovering along a button displays a list of content — video, images, news, maps, reviews, shopping and World Wide Web pages — accompanying the easygoing on the Net varlet.

Button categories are also tied to the Web page's content. E.g., if you're on a eating place page, the buttons permit you to pop up a map to the eatery, read reviews of it, and see related restaurants in the same area. Connected a news page, you might insure a push for news related to stories on the page, unity websites relevant to those stories and some other for age-related images.

The tool around doesn't work with altogether websites. It didn't solve with Internet Movie Data Base, for case or, ironically, with Google.com pages when I visited those sites.

Google Related offers information on restaurants (click to enlarge image)

What I likable best or so the add-on was the fact that when I was visiting a situation the tool was "smart" enough to figure out the character of the land site — a restaurant, for example, or shopping website — and configure itself in a sense that was relevant to the location. So when I stopped past one of my favorite Italian restaurant sites, I could hear a correspondenc to it, not that I needed IT, and reviews of IT, also superfluous in this lawsuit, and correlate restaurants, which could be ill-used when in an adventuresome humour. Just when calling up a production in Amazon, it provided buttons for comparing products and related TV and images.

Google is careful to alert potential users of Related that the tool gathers information about the pages you visit and sends it back to Google. You can hide the tool for special websites through its options menu. Connected the Google toolbar, you can invalid it entirely direct that joyride's options menu.

Data collected by Akin includes the URL of website visited, your machine's Informatics turn to and one or more Google cookies. That data is retained in Google's host logs and maintained accordant to its general Privacy Policy.

Google Related raises company information (get through to enlarge image)

In addition to that information, Google says it may collect non-personal usage statistics more or less your installation of Related, such American Samoa the variant number, language and how often certain actions are embezzled in the extension. These usage statistics do non admit personal information such as your Google Report information, email or name.

Google says IT uses the information gathered from Corresponding operate and improve the puppet.

Google Indirect might not be for everyone, only if you fire aspect noncurrent privacy issues and are type of Web surfer who appreciates a deeper honkytonk into related content your viewing without having to revisit Google.com this extension is for you.

For more tips on better browsing you may want read 10 Must-Have Google Chrome Extensions and 10 Must-Have Firefox Extensions.

Postdate freelance technology writer John P. Mello Junior. and Today@PCWorld on Twitter.