science

Google Squared

Google Squared is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Google Squared rather than just read about it. In short: Google Squared was an information extraction and relationship extraction product from Google. It was announced on May 12, 2009, in response to the launch of Wolfram Alpha and was launched on Google Labs on June 3, 2009.

Key takeaways

Google Squared belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Google Squared to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Google Squared from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Google Squared was an information extraction and relationship extraction product from Google. It was announced on May 12, 2009, in response to the launch of Wolfram Alpha and was launched on Google Labs on June 3, 2009. As part of the phasing out of Google Labs, Google Squared was shut down on September 5, 2011. Squared was developed at Google's New York office. It was the first significant effort by Google to understand information on the web and present it in new ways. Google Squared extracted structured data from across the web and presented its results in spreadsheet-like format. Each search query returned a table of search results which has its own set of columns - common attributes that are associated with the topic of a search. Nathania Johnson of Search Engine Watch described Squared as "quite possibly ... one of Google's significant achievements".

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Google Squared

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Google Squared claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Google Squared before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Google Squared ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Google Squared

In research: Google Squared appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Google Squared in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Google Squared is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Discontinued Google services, Semantic Web, World Wide Web stubs, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Google Squared outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Google Squared in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Google Squared means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Google Squared out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Google Squared in simple terms?

Why does Google Squared matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Google Squared?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Google Squared.