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Google Programmable Search Engine facts for kids

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Google Programmable Search
Google Custom Search logo.png
Type of site
Web search engine
Owner Google (Alphabet)
Created by Google
Revenue From AdWords
Commercial Yes
Registration Required
Launched October 24, 2006; 18 years ago (2006-10-24) (as Google Co-op)
Current status Active
Written in C++

The Google Programmable Search Engine is a special tool from Google. It lets people create their very own search engines! Imagine you want to search only for information about space or animals. This tool helps you do just that.

It used to be called Google Custom Search and before that, Google Co-op. Google first launched this service on October 23, 2006. It helps web developers and anyone else make search engines that focus on specific topics. You can choose which websites the search engine looks at. This means you get more exact results for what you are interested in.

What is Google Programmable Search?

Google Programmable Search Engine is a platform that lets you build a search engine just for you. You can decide what kind of information it searches for. It's like having your own mini-Google that knows exactly what you want to find.

How to Create Your Own Search Engine

Google coop
Google Co-op logo, an older name for the service.

Creating your own search engine with Google Programmable Search is quite easy. You can pick specific websites that your search engine will look through. This is great if you only want information from trusted sources. For example, if you are researching history, you could tell your search engine to only look at museum websites. This helps you avoid websites that might not have correct information.

This tool also allows website owners to earn money. When people use their custom search engine, they might see ads from Google AdSense. If someone clicks on an ad, the website owner can get a small payment.

What Happened to Subscribed Links?

There used to be a feature called "Subscribed Links." This allowed users to subscribe to special web results. It was like getting a personalized list of links on a certain topic. Anyone could create these links, even without much technical knowledge. However, Google stopped offering Subscribed Links on September 15, 2011.

What are Search Topics?

"Topics" were another part of the service. These were specific areas of search that experts could develop. For example, someone who knows a lot about cars could create a "Cars" topic. When people searched on Google, these topics would sometimes appear at the top. This helped users narrow down their searches even more. Google was working on a limited number of topics, like Health, Destination Guides, Autos, Computer games, Photography, and Home Theater.

See Also

kids search engine
Google Programmable Search Engine Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.