Google is to release a version of its Google Toolbar specifically for Firefox later this week.
Watch the Google Toolbar site for news of when it is ready, and see below about Google’s absurd advice not to comment about the
toolbar launch until it happens.
Finally! In February, I’d asked Google why, despite being a close Firefox partner, it still hadn’t produced a toolbar for the increasingly popular browser. The response was
that the Googlebar tool for Firefox was seen as filling the need.
Googlebar For Firefox, Plus The Google & Firefox Deal covers that plus how Googlebar does much of what the Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer doesn’t.
Can’t wait? Go get Googlebar and also SearchStatus, which as I’ve
explained gives you PageRank information and other cool features.
Yahoo Toolbar For Firefox and Closer Look At Yahoo Toolbar For
Firefox covers the existing official toolbar for Firefox that Yahoo offers. Also see Firefox Got Yahoo! for
more directly from Yahoo.
For some other Firefox and search-related tips, see our recent series on searching and Firefox, the
Three Cool Search Gizmos and A Great
Search Tool for Firefox article and our Toolbars & Utilities
category for Search Engine Watch members.
Firefox users who like toolbars should be sure check out Groowe, an easy way to search against multiple search engines at once and
imitate special features their own toolbars provide. I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Finally, remember that if anyone in the press asks you about the new Google Toolbar For Firefox, don’t comment! At least, don’t comment until the news is officially
released via a planned Google press release. To help everyone understand this important need, Google posted this publicly:
Hey Googlebar folks, long time no talk. I thought I’d drop you a note to give a heads up on something Google will be releasing next week: a version of our IE Toolbar for
Firefox. It will most likely be released on July 7th, but press releases will go out at 9pm on July 6th. Since you were in the Google-toolbar-for-firefox space first, it’s
conceivable that the press might contact you for comment. If they do it would be great if you could hold of replying until our press releases go out on the 6th.
Yes, if you post news of a secret launch in a public place, it’s conceivable the press might hear about it before the launch. But then again, this is becoming a nice way to
get triple the publicity for your products, these days.
In the past, we had the “beta” release and then the “final” release as a way to get a double-dose of press gushing. Now we have the triple — news that accidentally leaks
out, then the formal beta release, then the final release (or some product upgrade for those product that never emerge from beta).
A leak like this worked for Google Video last week, so why not do the same for the Google Toolbar For
Firefox this week? The real question is, how do you get the quadruple dose of publicity going forward?