Back in April 2009, Google introduced Google Search, a little-known feature in Gmail labs that allows users to search Google without ever leaving the Gmail interface. Today, Google announced that it is improving this feature with a number of useful new functions. Google Search in Gmail can now access most of the more advanced features of Google Search, including dictionary definitions, spelling corrections, calculations, weather and local search. In addition, Google is now also highlighting these new features through an additional button in the Gmail toolbar.
While this might look like a very minor new feature, Google Search in Gmail actually turns out to be quite useful. Being able to search Google’s index directly from Gmail without having to leave the site is nice, but what makes this feature work is the ability to quickly copy and paste the search results into your email. You can choose to copy the full search result (including the description of the site) or just the link. Sadly, though, Google Search in Gmail doesn’t allow you to search Google Maps and easily copy and paste a map into an email message.
To enable Google Search in Gmail, go to Gmail Labs and look for “Google Search” (around the middle of the page).
