Google Alerts

I give Generation X, and all the generations before it, a whole lot of credit for figuring things out, getting around cities, and having quick general knowledge without the help of a smartphone.

Millennials have it easy: anything they need is right in the palm of their hands, almost 24/7.  If we’re out to dinner with friends and need to split the check, we can easily just open up our calculator app; if we’re about to fall asleep and need to set an alarm for the morning, all we do is pull it up on our phone and quickly set the time for our phones to wake us up.  

We like to stay updated and connected, and we like to send and receive things at the speed of light with our mobile devices.  One of the most helpful tools to have access to on our phones, is the Google Alert. The Google Alert was created by a man named Naga Kataru.  Naga Kataru is the founder of one of Google’s most popular and most used tools today.  Millions of people use Google Alerts as a monitoring system for any particular information on the internet.  The Google definition of a Google Alert i, “a content change detection and notification service, offered by the search engine company Google. The service sends emails to the user when it finds new results—such as web pages, newspaper articles, blogs, or scientific research—that match the user’s search term(s).”  This tool is helpful for anyone who wants to know and keep track of anything they desire.  You can set your Google Alert to notify you about specific topics you are interested in, news you want to follow, your favorite sports teams or celebrities…you can even have a Google Alert for yourself!  

One interesting way some people use Google Alerts is for job or property hunting.  Google Alerts are a perfect way to get instant notifications about a new job opportunity or opening, and about new available real estate on the market.  Google will send you an alert right away when there is something new or trending about the specific search content you’ve chosen.  The best part about Google alert is that you receive all of this information that you have hand picked, immediately, and all for free.  

You can also connect your Google Alerts with your email accounts and phone numbers.  This factor about Google Alerts makes it easier for someone to quickly share that information or communicate with a friend about it.  For example,  on an episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, Kris Jenner has Google Alerts for all of her daughters.  One morning, Kris gets a Google Alert about an alleged scandal her daughter was apart of.  Kris immediately sends the alert to her daughter, Kim,  via email and then calls her to ask her aboutthe article.  Luckily, the story was not true, and they were able to have the article taken down (with the help of their lawyers) because the story they published was false.

Google Alerts is a quick and useful tool that millions of people utilize every day.  A Google Alert is individual and custom to your interests and values.  It is fast, easy, personal, and helpful for keeping up to date with whatever you would like; it is brilliant.