Google Co-Op To Search For BIRT

Many of you know that I love all things Google. A couple of weeks ago I read about the public release of Google Co-Op. In a nut-shell I can create custom made searches that look only in the domains that I specify, or at least favor those domains. This means that my search is more likely to return BIRT specific information.

As an example, go to a standard google search page and type in the term "Driver Bridge". I get at least ten pages of data and virtually all of it is not related to BIRT. Now do the same on the BIRT custom search on the right hand side bar of this blog. The search returns only the three items about the BIRT driver bridge. (I only search the sites that I have specified).

But wait theres more:
- Google Co-Op supports collaboration. If anyone is interested in adding additional sites to the BIRT search, let me know and I will let you collaborate and add your own sites.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

NOTE: You will not see this functionality getting added to the main BIRT web site. The terms of use for Google Co-Op are written in a way that the Eclipse Foundation would open itself up to significant liability if the foundation hosts the search. We went through the legal review process with the Eclipse Foundation, there is no way this is going to get added to the Eclipse Foundation site. Yes, I have thrown down the gauntlet there, I would love it if someone can figure out a way to prove me wrong. Google Terms of Service is here.