Google to Launch Government Search Site

Billosaur writes "Word has come out via the Washington Post on Google's plan to launch a a tool for searching US Government web sites. The tool, usgov.google.com, is meant to be used by Federal employees who may need to search across several different sites for information, and '...is also designed to help citizens navigate convoluted pages of government-speak and tailor news feeds to their interests. Users can customize the layout of their page to remain updated on government-related news from official and commercial sources, including the White House, Department of Defense, The Washington Post and CNN. Google is also working with agencies to increase the frequency of news updates to keep content current.'"

Comments

Dear NSA, please open a file on me

[Gothmolly]

My entire search history, my email, and my interactions with the Federal and State governments will all be neatly catalogued by an online service, whose records, I am sure, you will have no trouble in subpoena-ing when necessary.

Thank you,
John Citizen

I hope it is useful

[frovingslosh]

I just hope they make it useful. In the past I know there has been information that I wanted on publically finded, publically open sites, because I found it, but when I asked Google for the same information I was told that my search got zero matches. I was told here that the likely cause of this was someone flagging the page or pages above the information "no robots" or whatever the flag is to keep spiders out. This is a complete crock for public information, and I hope that Google indexes as much as it can, no matter what flag some low level tax-payer paid employee decided to stick on it.

If the don't, the terrorists have won. (Heck, that argument seems to work for anything Bush wants.)

Re:you can do this manually

[demachina]

If this has already been done, I'm wonder if maybe instead Google could straighten out all the fucked up computers at the FBI so they could communicate with each other and maybe stop the next 9/11 like they should have the first one when agents started getting reports of Arab men training to fly but not land airliners but they weren't talking to each other so....

Then maybe the U.S. wouldn't need to resorting to massively spying on everyone, torturing people, invading random countries, etc. to deal with this little terrorism problem.

If Google could do that instead of just "do no evil" they could make their motto "do good". Since /. seems to think Google is like God and can do anything, I think straightening out our messed up government, and nipping this police state in the bud, is a simple thing. If Google is concerned about being in the Chinese police state, what are they going to do if they let their home country turn in to one.

Go Google!!!

Re:I'm glad.

[bigpat]

Oh, wait, there they are knocking on the door now. Guess I don't need the government search site after all.

Well after today's supreme court decision, knocking probably means it isn't the government, because they don't have to knock anymore.