Google is where I go when I need info or a distraction. It’s both a lifesaver and a black hole that sucks time. I use it find both new reads and new inspiration. I don’t know whether to curse it or praise it. Sometimes I want to do both.
Okay, so Google is only a search engine and not the only engine in the world. But it’s good enough that people have turned its name into a verb. (Google, Googled, Googling: Word does not think these three words are misspelled. But WordPress thinks Googled and Googling are misspelled.)
How do I use Google? Let me count the ways…
1) Save pieces to Google Keep so they are in the cloud. (EverNote does this as well. Not sure which is better.) 
2) Research
3) Play. (lots of play)
4) Inspiration. (This will be I post, I think. But I look for pics.)
5) Keep notes on Google Keep on interesting markets
6) Find new and interesting apps
7) G+
8) Read samples in the preview section of Google Books
9) Many, many other Google services.
I could go on and on and on.
These days, I get most of reading suggestions online. And if someone does suggest a new writer, it’s easy to whip out my phone and look up an excerpt. If I can’t find one, well, I consider the stupidity of the writer wouldn’t post a short excerpt. And make no previews available in Google books. I can’t decide if I want to read a book without the excerpt, can I?
The hard thing is to keep play at a minimum and not spend too much time finding random facts in the name of research.
As a reader, I have no idea what I would do without Google. Spend more time at bookstores and libraries, I suppose.
As a writer? I am not sure there is a replacement. Besides other search engines, I mean. It would mean spending hours at a library doing research. I did that in school, but mostly for teachers who wouldn’t accept online resources. (After figuring out what books I needed online through footnotes and whatnot.)
I wouldn’t have the multitude of writerly connections I have on G+ and elsewhere. (There is no replacement for this.)
It’s not exaggeration to say Google as taken over my life. Considering how many problems there are regarding privacy, I am not at all sure this is a good thing or that I shouldn’t spread out things I do elsewhere. But it’s so to have it all in one spot instead of a half a dozen different programs.
What do you use Google for? How does it serve your passions?
Story Treasury 
I agree with your point on privacy and struggle with this, especially on my G+ profile. I actually just noticed that someone searched my blog via Google using my full name and blog title. Can you say freak out?! However, for research, whether for writing, kids’ homework, work, etc. it can’t be beat!
They must have remembered your name and blog from a previous visit!
I also use Google, and Google alone, for study, research, finding recipes, figuring out how to repair my house or car, and the list goes on! The other search engines just don’t cut it!
Oh, I know.
And Blogger, can’t forget Blogger. Gmail, G+, searching. The grandkid spends a LOT of time on Youtube watching game walkthroughs and various (approved) cartoons and (tolerated) compilations of car wrecks as seen through dashboard cams.
Yes all of the above! Though blogger does not figure prominently in my life!
I look up stuff on Google everyday. It’s a great resource, but it’s also filled with deception so you can’t believe everything you find there.
Google+ still needs work. Right now I dislike it very much, but I can see its potential.
Lee
Wrote By Rote
An A to Z Co-host blog
I actually thought G+ is easy to use. It has a lot of potential.
I agree with Lee – I find Google+ way too complicated to be useful. But I Google lots of stuff. I was recently appalled when I suggested to some that she Google something and she said – “how do I do that?” HUH!??! Can’t imagine life without Google at this point!
The Road We’ve Shared A to Z</a
Someone doesn’t know ho to Google?!!!!!!
I use Google all the time to look things up, find photos, etc. I’ve had the best luck with it as far as search engines go.
Me too.
Excellent topic. Somehow I’ve never even heard of Google Keep even though I use many of Google products. I never thought of G+ as complicated as others said. I think it’s the easiest service out there.
Me too. It’s Google’s version of EverNote, and it saves them, I think, the same place it saves Google drive documents.
If I don’t google something once a day, it means that I have no wifi. I am in love with it, and have been for a long, long time. The only other search engine I have used is Yahoo!, and that was over 10 years ago!
Google is my go-to for everything that I am wanting more information on. I especially love the Google Doodles. They can be a lot of fun to click on.
And for privacy…well, it used to be that I would google my name every couple days. If something came up that referenced me, I freaked out! Now, I am working on getting my name to be seen on Google…lol
Carrie~Anne at That Dizzy Chick
Oh me too. I don’t use Yahoo much anymore either. But sometimes I’ll use dogpile.com
We have a saying in my family: “Google is God”. I know many people worry about privacy with Google, but it’s just too useful for me to worry about (perhaps my younger age influences this). I use Android as well, so my phone automatically picks up locations I regularly visit and gives me approximate travel times. I also get notifications when sites I regularly visit are updated. Plus where would we be without Google maps telling us how to get to places. And of course its original purpose – searching for information. I look up books, recipes, TV shows, movies and everything else under the sun. About the only feature I don’t use is G+, because it just doesn’t interest me. Google truly is Big Brother, but I don’t think that’s such a bad thing. Life without Google certainly would be different.
I have that feature turned off in my phone. and tablet. I don’t know – google map is so useful. As for it not being such a bad thing – I am not sure. It can be, it can be.
And don’t forget all the wonderful recipes. Oh, and confirming who sang that song or what the lyrics actually say.
Google has definitely worked its way into our everyday life. I imagine it is already worked its way into modern literature as well given its prevalence in daily situations and dialogue. 🙂
Oh, yes. I look up lyrics and recipes all the time!
I always wonder what parents did before Google. I have a highly inquisitive child and Google has saved me more times than I can count 🙂