A new Web site makes it easier, and more effective, to use Google™ to search for your family history, according to the site's Webmaster Doug Barry in today's press release. Just complete a small family tree for an ancestor and the site will create the best Google searches for you.

According to Mr. Barry, the site helps eliminate extraneous results by creating complex search strings based on your ancestor's names and locations and genealogy-related words. The searches are written for you. All you have to do is choose the search you want to try.

Being that I love playing with search engines I spent some time checking the site out. I have to admit, it does do a pretty good job of creating searches for you, using such Google tricks as placing a ~ before the words "genealogy" and "ancestry" to get Google to search for synonyms and common misspellings such as "family tree" and "geneology." Other search techniques that the site employs includes using possible variants of the name - "mack crisp," "crisp, mack," etc. (including search phrases in quotes), the use of the wildcard * to account for possible middle names and initials, and the allintitle search.

While the site did a pretty good job of formulating a number of searches, I found it just as time consuming to use and select the searches it came up with as it would to just use them myself. Plus, it doesn't take into account things such as alternate surname spellings, common words such as "crisp," etc. While the site is definitely worth a visit, my recommendation would be to spend about 20 minutes reading Google Search Tips for Genealogists and learn how to customize your own genealogy searches. The free Web site is available at http://www.genealogy-search-help.com.