Subscribe Via Email
Google U.S. Government Search: What is it and is it Better Than USASearch.gov?
If you’ve ever seen the following webpage, you may have wondered what it is that Google U.S. Government Search does. Google U.S. Government Search is simply a specialized Google search that searches all of the United States Goverment websites from one easy-to-use portal.
It also shows you the current news from Washington D.C. and allows you to customize the look and feel of the main page if you are signed in and have a Google account.
Google U.S. Government Search Homepage:
Although essentially the same results could be achieved through the use of the site:gov operator, it is nice to have an easy-to-access page.
Also, you have the assurance that if you are looking for sensitive information, such as certain IRS tax forms, you will know that they are genuine and not fraudulent.
Does the U.S. Government Have an Alternative?
Yes. The U.S. Government has a site called www.USASearch.gov. This search is powered by Microsoft’s Live Search, one of Google’s main competitors. Here is a screen shot of that homepage:
How Does it Compare to Google’s Search?
At first glance, it seems to be patterned after Google’s homepage. Perhaps imitation is the sincerest form of flattery…
You’ll notice that this search portal for the U.S. Government doesn’t contain all of the extra news and information that Google’s homepage has.
I would have to say that based on the usability of the homepage, Google’s U.S. Governement Search is the clear winner.
Let’s see what happens when you perform a search with both search engines. Let’s say we are looking for the 1040 tax form. If we do a search on Google’s U.S. Government Search, we get the following set of results:
This is what I expected from a search engine as seasoned as Google. The first results is exactly what we were looking for. It’s hard to do better than that. Or is it?
Let’s see how well the USA Search powered by Live Search can perform when we want our 1040 tax form:
If I had to describe my reaction in one word, I would use the word impressed. You’ll notice that the first search result is for the exact same thing - the PDF file of the 1040 tax form. I was intrigued by the two tabs that appeared at the top of the search results - Taxes and Federal Forms. Upon clicking the Federal Forms tab, I was instantly shown the following:
As you can see, USA Search provided me with links to many useful tax forms, including the one I was searching for.
Which One Should You Use, If Any?
That depends on if you think it is worth it. Both of these search portals guarantee that everything you find with them comes from the U.S. Government. That in itself does give a lot of peace of mind.
With Google U.S. Government Search, you can conveniently see what is going on with the U.S. Government, and this homepage gives you a nice overview since it discusses headlines from the Washington Post, the White House, the Governement Executive, and the American Forces. It also gives a nice overview of the kind of weather that Washington D.C. is currently experiencing.
The official USA Search page provides a more user-friendly experience in the search results. They appear more nicely formatted and have a PDF icon next to PDF files which can be helpful. The useful links they provide are also very nice to help you find exactly what you are looking for.
However, Google stuck with its minimalist design. Both search engines found us what we are looking for. Some may argue that the USA Search results were simply too cluttered, while Google’s search results loaded faster and found you exactly what you wanted as the first result.
It all boils down to a matter of preference. However, if you are new to searching, I would recommend using either one of these portals as they will restrict your search results to only official U.S. Government pages.
Comments
Leave a Reply
Poll: Favorite Search Engine
Loading ...