Google has just sucked me back into being their toolbar user. I had long since given up on their toolbar until they did something that got my attention with their newest version: offered up some of the real estate for custom use.

That’s right, you can now add your own custom buttons to the Google toolbar. Here’s all you have to do:

Short Way
1. click here to add custom MakeYouGoHmm Google Toolber button. If you aren’t using the current Google toolbar that supports custom buttons then it will offer to install that version automatically.

Long Way
1. Download and install the upgraded Google Toolbar (beta)
2. Navigate to the makeyougohmm.com home page
3. Right click with your mouse in the search box in the upper right corner
4. Choose “create custom search”

Notes:
- you can substitute makeyougohmm.com with your own blog or site search to make your own custom search button. Most Wordpress blogs pass s={query} so if your blog homepage is index.php you would use: yourdomain.com/index.php?s={query}.

Creating and hosting your own XML button file
The XML file format is pretty straightforward. You can view the code for the MakeYouGoHmm search XML here as an example. Just change the image block to your own and the other fields to match your own site search.

To convert your favicon or other 16×16 image into base64 you can roll your own script or use an online tool like this one which Google recommended in the docs.

Developer Reference
- full Google custom toolbar API specs
- Google Custom Buttons Group
- Submit custom button to Google for listing in the Google Buttons area. I submitted the Hmm search button and it meets all the Editorial Guidelines. The email autoreply I received read:

Thank you for submitting a custom button for the Google Toolbar. This is
an autoreply to let you know we received your custom button. We’ll review
it over the next few days, and if it’s accepted, you should see it up on
our custom button site within a few weeks. Please note that we’re not able
to provide updates on individual buttons.

It’s 6:36am PST, will report back how long it takes to get listed.

Others talking about Google Toolbar v4
Chris Sherman from Search Engine Watch breaks down the various v4 features including bookmarks, sharing features and custom buttons.
Matt Cutts shows how to make a custom WHOIS button
Nathan Weinberg is already on the case: “The new Toolbar is 627k, 76k larger than Toolbar 3. When turning on the translation feature, you are warned that it has privacy implications. You might as well turn off the “Go” button, since it no longer has the handy drop down to choose different services”
Techcrunch: “This is a great bookmarking product, interesting features can be added down the road, and many users will find it useful.”

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• Giving blog / RSS readers control of your blog
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