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Just Google It Already

November 21, 2008 4:42 PM

Anyone who's ever been irked by friends who seem to specialize in asking Googleable questions will love the newest snarky tool to hit the Web.

Launched earlier this week, "Let Me Google That for You" is a free service that gives the tech-challenged step-by-step instructions on how to use the popular search engine ... with a tiny bit of attitude.

As your eyes roll at your friend’s cluelessness, you type in his question and click the "Google Search" button. The site then gives you a link you can copy, paste and send back to your friend.

When he clicks the link, he’s treated to an animated play-by-play of the oh-so-complicated Google search.

After the "tutorial," the actual Google search results will appear along with the subtle jibe: "Was that so hard?"

The site was created by software developer Jim Garvin, after a lunchtime discussion Tuesday with fellow developers about their frustrations with Google-phobic peers.

When one of his buddies griped about "that guy" who always asks stupid questions, the rest of the table sympathized.

"A few of us shared that we would say, ‘Let me Google that for you,’ as a signal that the other person was an a** for not figuring it out on his own," Garvin told ABCNews.com in an e-mail. "One of us said, ‘There should be a Web site for that.’ And it kind of exploded from there. Lots of laughter."

That night, Garvin bought the domain and wrote the code. He and his friend Ryan McGeary tweaked the page until 1:30 a.m. and then called it a night.

"Let me Google that for you" is something I think most people in the IT field have had to say to someone they were frustrated with. For me and a few people I know, it happens with regular frequency," he said.

The site launched Wednesday, and in its first 60 hours, Garvin said, it has surpassed 1.5 million page views.

Looks like a lot of frustrated people are finally getting a much-needed release.

-- Ki Mae Heussner

November 21, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (4)

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