Gmail Labs Puts Google Web Search In Your Email Inbox

Just like any other Gmail Labs features, all you need to do to use Google Search feature in Gmail is to enable it by clicking on the Labs icon under the Settings Tabs. Remember that the Gmail Labs features are not arranged in any particular order. So you won't find Google Search as the first listed feature. You may have to scroll down the page some more to see this feature. Once you do see it, just tick on the enable radio button and as soon as you go back to your inbox the feature is now activated.

How would you know if Google Web Search is already enabled in your Gmail account? The Google Search Bar will appear on the left side of your Gmail inbox. Take note, this is different from the box on the upper part of your inbox which lets you search Gmail. This search box allows you to perform a Google web search.

Once Google Search is activated, you can start searching any keywords related to the email you are reading or perhaps to search for a cited web site. Pressing the Enter key after putting in your search term will bring up a small window on the lower right side of your inbox. This small window contains the first few results of your search. Clicking on a search result will open a new window/tab which you can check for answers to your query.

Now, if you mouse over a search result link, a pull-down menu will appear beside the search result link. This pull-down menu would enable you to do any of the following depending on what you are currently doing in your Gmail account.

• reply to an email with the search result as the first item in your reply if you are reading an email message
• paste the search result or its URL if you are writing an email message
• send the search results via chat
• compose a new message to send the search result

Additionally, you can also use some keyboard shortcuts to bring up the Google search bar - G when you are not composing a message and CTRL+G if you are writing an email message.

Integrating Google Web Search in Gmail saves you time and extra steps just to verify anything that you find while reading a Gmail message. It will also come in handy when you are composing a message and you want to append search results displayed by the Google search bar. It practically eliminates the need to cut and paste the link from another browser window to your Gmail message. You can be assured that you are appending the correct link as it is automatically generated and pasted on your message by the Google Search feature.

Some users may find this as a small feature but nobody can discount the fact that small features like these are what make Gmail a more useful web mail client than its competitors.