Google continues to come out with cool new features. Some are hotly contested, some are celebrated, and practically all are continually in “BETA” release. Here is a list of most of them, in no particular order. Click the links to visit the various Google Gadgets.

Google Search - The original and most widely used Internet search engine!

Google Directory - Never let it be said that Yahoo has anything on Google. You can also use Google to search the Internet based on their directory of websites. Especially useful when you’re having a hard time narrowing down your topic.

Gmail - It’s been around a few years now and it’s still one of the best email products out there. And now they’ve added Google Talk, which allows you to IM or even voice-call your Google friends. You still need an invitation to get a Gmail account, so if you need one, let me know. I blogged about Gmail here.

Google Earth - An incredible resource that, of course, has to have people question security. Regardless, it’s a great tool that’s tied into Google Maps, which is also very handy. I blogged about Google Earth here and here.

Blog Search - A search engine that searches RSS feeds to bring you blogs that discuss your search topic. I blogged about Google’s Blog Search here.

Google News - A very nice compilation of new stories from over 4,500 sources around the world! This ties in very nicely with:

Personalized Home Page - Google allows you to customize your main Google page to include news headlines, RSS feeds, and more. I blogged about the Personalized Home Page here.

Google Scholar - Not your plain old Google. THIS one searches “scholarly” journal articles and other literature from libraries.

Google Page Creator - Now you can even use their tools to create your own web pages that will be stored on THEIR site, tied in with your Gmail account. No technical knowledge required and your pages end up at http://yourgmailusername.googlepages.com

Google Groups - Set up your own email discussion lists (or join one of the thousands already there). They even list recommended groups based on your profile.

Google Desktop - The same great Google functionality, but for searching your hard drive. Never lose a file again! What, never? Well, hardly ever!

Google Video - What a treasure trove, here! You can search for TV programs and videos (both purchased videos and uploaded videos) the same way you search for web pages.

Google Personalized Search - This one’s a gem (sorry for the continuing metaphors) that many people don’t really know about. And also that can be debated as to invasion of privacy and all that, but I guess you opt in if you want it. You can keep track of your Google searches over time, which means you won’t lose that cool search that did last month. You can also use their Trends to see your top searches and bar graphs of your activity by day/month/hour. They’ve also added in bookmarks and labels, so you really CAN keep track of your favorites.

Froogle - Nice pun in the name. It’s your good old Google search, but for online shopping. Shop via Google! And now they’ve even got a Local Shopping option, where you can put in your zip code and get your search results displayed on Google Maps! How cool is that??

Book Search - Search the full text of books to view Snippets, Sample Pages, or Full Books, depending on the source. This is another hotly contested functionality that is drawing all kinds of praise and flak on the copyright issue. As far as I can see, the jury’s still out on this one.

Google Answers - Having trouble finding the information you need? Google’s got “more than 500 carefully screened Researchers are ready to answer your question.” This is a PAY service (”as little as $2.50″), so be sure to search Google Answers itself before posting your question.

Google Labs - This is where you can try out all the NEW stuff that Google is coming out with. Pretty cool! And more there all the time.

And then, of course, there’s GOOGLEWHACKING!