This phenomenal growth has made Google from a garage startup to an Internet behemoth faster than any company has done before. The prodigies behind this unique search engine, Larry Page and Sergey Brin in process already got enlisted themselves in billionaire club.

Google is no longer a mere search engine! It is increasingly broadening its offerings to include great new services and excellent tools. Among these services, most notables are News - a news aggregation and searching service, Blogger - an online journal-keeping solution, Froogle - a marketplace for comparison shopping, Groups - online discussion groups, Answers - a place to get hard-to-find information for a price, etc.

Google also recently unveiled two more programs. Orkut - a social networking service and Gmail - a free web mail service. Orkut is an online community, where a person can participate in it by invitation from a member only.

If you constantly frown over limited space of your hotmail or Yahoo accounts because they get filled up with junk mails and force you to delete old messages frequently, you will love Gmail with its 1 GB of storage capacity. There are several great features available in Gmail system too. One of them, dubbed as Conversations, allow you to view all exchange mails with somebody, once you select one of mails. Sorting and searching emails also become much easier with Gmail. The only catch is Gmail displays relevant ads - based on keywords found in your email - on right side of screen when you view an email, much like Google displays ads when you view search results.

Although, Google is constantly adding new and extremely useful features, most of us unfortunately do not use all capacities of search engine itself. The following tips will make your Internet browsing more effective if even you are an avid net user.

Choose most specific search words

Google returns web pages that contain all words in your query. If you would like to see most relevant pages on first page of your search result, be very specific with your choice of words. For example: if you would like to research on former NHL hockey player Makarov, you should start your search with Makarov not hockey player. Even better if you search for words: hockey player Makarov. Because just word Makarov will show web pages on "Makarov" a Russian-made handgun and numerous other people and products with name Makarov. Refining your query in Google means adding more specific words to your initial search. In this example you will hit right web pages if your search contains: NHL hockey player Makarov.

Sets - a new feature

What if you are looking for a pair of Valentino designer jeans but can't recall name of designer? Query on Italian designer jeans may bring you right result; however, there is a better tool that Google is planning to implement soon, called "Sets".

Fill up names of some designers that you remember in given form such as Levis, Wrangler, Versace and click either of two buttons and voila! You will get a list of designers name and probably, Valentino will be there. But bear in mind that this feature is still at Beta stage.

Calculator

According to statistics, more than 100 thousand people become millionaires each year in United States alone! Overwhelming majority out of them is self-made and owners of business. This means, if you would like to pursue your goal of becoming rich, you have to start your own venture.

Becoming an entrepreneur is not an easy task! There are certain qualities that are absolutely necessary if you would like to become successful in your business ventures. Some of these qualities are built-in parts of your inherent personality, and some of them get developed over time. Knowing these characteristics and identifying your weak ones - those, which need strengthening - will, eventually, help you become a successful entrepreneur.

1. Common Sense

Studies show that most successful businessmen consider common sense as foundation of their success. Common sense is defined as an ability to make sound judgments on issues, which you encounter in everyday situations.

Good judgment depends on acquired knowledge and past experience. The combination of these two creates necessary prerequisites in developing common sense in a person. Common sense allows you to understand complex issues in simpler terms and get into core of a problem.

2. Specialized Knowledge of your field

It is easier to start a successful business, if you have deep knowledge of business field that you decide to pursue. About half of all home-based start-ups are launched by people who decide to use knowledge, which they gained from their previous work experience of a particular niche area.

Philip Green, a billionaire, who made his fortune in garments retailing, claims that corner stone of his success is his knowledge of rag trade. He, presumably, can price a fabric simply by rubbing it between his fingers. Just by looking at a rack of coats he can predict which ones won't sell next season. That's kind of knowledge required in order to become successful in entrepreneurship.

Around 45 percent of all start-ups fail to survive more than two years. One of main reasons is many entrepreneurs do not accumulate needed industry knowledge before jumping into business world.

3. Self-confidence

Self confidence is a key entrepreneurial skill for success. It is easy to become demoralized, frustrated and resentful if you lack self-confidence.