ClickAider

New Google Homepage Module: Local Search

I’ve written an local search module for the Google homepage using the new Homepage API.

You can think of this as the moral equivalent of Berry 411 for the Google home page– it uses AJAX to support quick local searches near your home or work, displaying the results directly on the home page.

To add it to your home page, just click “Add Content” on the Google homepage and enter the following URL:
http://www.thebogles.com/google/local_search.xml

Developers might be interested in the following techniques used in the module:

  • It fetches and reformats external content using Google’s _IG_FetchContent function. This is pretty interesting; it allows you to remix the web for the home page in the style of Greasemonkey, but without requiring any external plugins.
  • It uses client side cookies to remember user state (their current location.) Really, Google should provide this functionality in the API itself, but until then, this will do.

    Sadly, Google doesn’t do geocoding, so I wasn’t able to display an accurate miniature map of the currently selected address as I was hoping to. Hopefull they will add this functionality to their API.

    • posted on 12.21.05 @ 2:53 pm |

    3 Comments so far
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    Awesome - added to my home page. Thanks, Phil! :-)

    By Josh Bancroft on 12.21.05 5:55 pm

    very cool phil

    By Jason Goldberg on 12.21.05 10:30 pm

    Hey I tried out your module and it’s great! I wanted to let you know that you can add it to widQ.com (A Google Homepage Directory).

    By Anthony Graddy on 12.23.05 3:44 pm

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