Google Web Accelerator

Google Web Accelerator is an application that uses the power of Google's global computer network to make web pages load faster. Google Web Accelerator is easy to use; all you have to do is download and install it, and from then on many web pages will automatically load faster than before.

Please note that Google Web Accelerator is currently in beta test mode. If you have any problems using it or have suggestions for how we can improve it, please see the Google Group devoted to it.

Also note that during the first part of our beta testing period, users outside of North America and Europe may not see much improvement in their web page loading speed.

2. How does Google Web Accelerator work?

Google Web Accelerator uses various strategies to make your web pages load faster, including:

Sending your page requests through Google machines dedicated to handling Google Web Accelerator traffic.
Storing copies of frequently looked at pages to make them quickly accessible.
Downloading only the updates if a web page has changed slightly since you last viewed it.
Prefetching certain pages onto your computer in advance.
Managing your Internet connection to reduce delays.
Compressing data before sending it to your computer.

3. Can I use Google Web Accelerator with a dial-up connection?

Dial-up users may not see much improvement, as Google Web Accelerator is currently optimized to speed up web page loading for broadband connections.

4. Does Google Web Accelerator speed up all web pages?

No, it doesn't. For security reasons, Google Web Accelerator won't speed up pages encrypted with the HTTPS: protocol (such as bank records pages). Also, Google Web Accelerator only speeds up web pages, not large data downloads such as MP3 and streaming video files.

5. How does using Google Web Accelerator affect my privacy?

Google Web Accelerator receives much of the same kind of information you currently send to your ISP when you surf the Web:

Google will receive your requests for unencrypted pages (those with "HTTP:", not "HTTPS:", at the beginning of the URL), along with information such as the date and time of the request, your IP address, and computer and connection information
If you enter personally identifiable information (such as an email address) onto a form on an unencrypted web page, some sites may send this information through Google. Whenever your computer sends cookies with browsing or prefetching page requests for unencrypted sites, we temporarily cache these cookies in order to improve performance
In order to speed up the display of pages generally, Google Web Accelerator may store copies of web pages, including prefetched pages that you did not visit, in the Google Web Accelerator cache on your machine. This is separate from your browser's cache, which only identifies pages that you actually visited. You can empty your Google Web Accelerator cache at any time by following these instructions.

The policies for the Google Web Accelerator, like those for Google.com, uphold the highest level of integrity and respect for our users' information. Google will never rent or sell a user's personal information to third parties without a user's explicit permission. To learn more about our privacy practices, please see the Google Web Accelerator Privacy Policy.

6. What are Google Web Accelerator's system requirements?

To use Google Web Accelerator, your computer must have a Windows XP or Windows 2000 SP 3+ operating system. Google Web Accelerator works for the Internet Explorer 5.5+ or Firefox 1.0+ browsers.

7. Can I run Google Web Accelerator on a browser other than Internet Explorer or Firefox?

For other browsers running on Windows, you'll need to manually configure your proxy settings to 127.0.0.1:9100 for HTTP connections.

8. What should webmasters and content providers know about Google Web Accelerator?

If you're a webmaster or content provider interested in learning how Google Web Accelerator works with your site, please see our webmaster FAQ.

Using Google Web Accelerator	[back to top]

1. How do I install Google Web Accelerator?

Visit http://webaccelerator.google.com to download and install the Google Web Accelerator.

2. How do I get the latest version of Google Web Accelerator?

You don't have to do anything to make sure you always have the latest version of Google Web Accelerator; it automatically updates itself whenever a new version is available.

3. What is the Google Web Accelerator toolbar?

When you start Google Web Accelerator, a new toolbar shows up on all of your browser pages. Here are the icons you'll see on this toolbar and what they mean:

This icon means Google Web Accelerator is up and running The speedometer needle moves to indicate your download speed.

This icon means you've turned off acceleration for the site you're currently visiting (learn how to do this).

This icon means you've turned off Google Web Accelerator entirely (learn how to do this).

When Google Web Accelerator is on, you'll see a Time Saved counter that shows you how much time it has saved you since you installed it (or since you reset the counter).

4. How do I uninstall Google Web Accelerator?

If you decide you don't want to use Google Web Accelerator, here's how to uninstall it:

Click on Start > Settings > Control Panel to open the Windows Control Panel.
Click on Add or Remove Programs to open its window.
Click on Google Web Accelerator. A Remove button will appear below the Google Web Accelerator item.
Click the Remove button.
Close the Add or Remove Programs window and the Windows Control Panel.

The Google Web Accelerator Menu	[back to top]

1. How do I access the Google Web Accelerator menu?

You can bring up the Google Web Accelerator Menu by clicking on the Google Web Accelerator speedometer icon in the toolbar or system tray.

System Tray Menu

Learn more about each menu item:

Preferences	[back to top]

1. What Google Web Accelerator preferences can I set?

The Preferences menu option opens this Web Accelerator Preferences page:

Note: To apply your changes, you must click the Save Preferences button after you make them.

Internet Connection: By default, we assume you're on home DSL broadband, with a speed between 128K and 1M.
If your connection is faster than 1M, click Cable Modem / T1.
If your connection is slower than 128K, click Dialup.
Prefetching Pages: One way that Google Web Accelerator makes web pages load faster is by loading the content of some web pages in advance, even before you click on them (including the top search results on Google). To turn off prefetching, uncheck the Enable Prefetching box.
Cached Pages: Google Web Accelerator stores (caches) copies of viewed and prefetched pages. If you return to a page, Google Web Accelerator will check for a newer version of the page, unless you turn off this preference.
Clear Your History: To delete all the web pages stored in your Google Web Accelerator cache, just click the Clear History button.
Don't Accelerate These Sites: If a site is not compatible with Google Web Accelerator, or if you don't want requests for that site sent through Google, you can specify that it not be accelerated.

2. How do I ask Google Web Accelerator to not accelerate a website?

You can block Google Web Accelerator from speeding up pages from a particular subdomain (for example, www.somesite.com) or from an entire domain (for example, othersite.com, including any subdomains it might have, such as mail.othersite.com, www.othersite.com, news.othersite.com, etc).

To block a specific domain from being accelerated, enter its name (without a leading http://) in the Don't Accelerate These Sites preference's text area. For example, to block www.firstdomain.com and mail.seconddomain.com, just type those names in the text area, each on a separate line, and click the Save Preferences button. You can also block a domain by selecting the Don't accelerate this website toolbar menu item when you visit the website in question.

To block all subdomains at a particular site, just enter a "." followed by the common part of the domain name. For example, to block all subdomains at domain.com, just enter ".domain.com" on a separate line and click the Save Preferences button.

When your browser shows a blocked site, you'll see:

The toolbar menu item Don't accelerate this website has a checkmark next to it.
The browser speedometer icon is grayed out:

To unblock a domain, you can delete its entry from the Don't Accelerate These Sites text box and click the Save Preferences button, or uncheck the Don't accelerate this website toolbar menu item.

Performance Data	[back to top]

1. How can I tell how much time I have saved with Google Web Accelerator?

On the Google Web Accelerator: Performance Statistics page and the toolbar, you can see how much time Google Web Accelerator has saved you. This includes the number of pages that have been loaded and how long these pages would have taken to load with and without Google Web Accelerator.

2. How can I reset the Time Saved counter value?

Clicking the Reset button on the Performance Statistics page will reset the Time Saved counter.

Turning Google Web Accelerator Off (and Back On)	[back to top]

1. How do I turn Google Web Accelerator off without uninstalling it?

Just click on the Stop Google Web Accelerator menu item. Note that when Google Web Accelerator is turned off, the Google Web Accelerator icon in the system tray goes away. To restart Google Web Accelerator, either go to the Google Web Accelerator Toolbar menu and click Start Google Web Accelerator or select Google Web Accelerator in your Windows Start menu.

If you've made the Google Web Accelerator Toolbar invisible in IE, to access its icon menu you'll have to make it visible again by clicking on View > Toolbars > Google Web Accelerator from your main browser menu toolbar.

Apr	MAY	Jun
	05
2004	2005	2006