Google U.S. Government Search
Looking to keep up on White House feeds or the Weather around Washington, DC? Google has come out with a new search service and customizable homepage targeted towards US Government employees and contractors called Google U.S. Government Search.
I’m on my way to run some errands, but Candace Lombardi of News.com’s Google Blog has the lowdown on Google’s US Government Search and what it means to FirstGov.gov (which is powered by Google threats, MSN Search and Vivisimo) :
FirstGov.gov, the U.S. government’s official Web portal, does offer a search engine, but seems to be more of a directory of government agencies and topics. It is sectioned by “For Citizens,” “For Business and Nonprofits,” “Government to Government” and “Federal Employees.” There is also a Spanish language version.
People who use Google’s U.S. government site can restrict searches to government sites, and the results point to specific pages within those sites, not just to a home page of the appropriate government agency.
The idea is that federal employees will no longer have to start from a directory or .gov site and search for information by agency. Test searches also reveal an understanding of how government agencies are cross-connected. The results, which included many state Web sites as well as federal ones, offer a layered look at a single topic.
