---
title: "Comment of the Day: GoogleLookUp is “Wow”"
date: 2008-03-05
author: "Richard MacManus"
categories:
  - name: "ReadWriteWeb"
    url: "/category/readwriteweb.md"
tags:
  - name: "2008"
    url: "/tag/2008.md"
---

# Comment of the Day: GoogleLookUp is “Wow”

![](https://web.archive.org/web/20081225205201im_/http://www.readwriteweb.com/images/weboffice/ms_vs_google.jpg)Today’s winning comment comes from our feature-by-feature comparison of [Office Live Workspace and Google Docs](https://web.archive.org/web/20081225205201/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/office_live_workspace_vs_google_docs_feature_by_feature.php). In the post Sarah Perez concluded that “Google Docs, although limited in its capabilities, offers real-time collaboration”, while “Office Live Workspace \[…\] may not have the collaboration features of Google Docs, but the workspaces feature is unique.” As usual when we compare Google with Microsoft office products, the discussion was feisty. [Jrome’s comment](https://web.archive.org/web/20081225205201/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/office_live_workspace_vs_google_docs_feature_by_feature.php#comment-48338) stood out though: he pointed to a compelling feature in Google Docs called GoogleLookUp. He explains below:

Congratulations Jrome, you’ve won a $30 Amazon voucher – courtesy of our competition sponsors AdaptiveBlue and their [Netflix Queue Widget](https://web.archive.org/web/20081225205201/http://www.adaptiveblue.com/widgets_auto.html?section=nfx&name=Personalized%20Feed).

**UPDATE:** Jrome, your email address had an error, so please contact us at tips@readwriteweb.com to claim your prize.

> “Hey Sarah, If you want to focus on “everyman” features, why not to highlight the awesome GoogleLookUp function?
> 
> Here are the few steps: 1. Create a Google Spreadsheet 2. Tape “bmw” in A2, “mercedes” in A3 and “nissan” in A4 3. Select A2:A4 and, while holdind the Ctrl key, expand your selection until A50. 4. Say “wow” 5. Tape “employees” from B2 to B50. 6. Enter “=googlelookup(A2; B2)” in C2 and expand the formula until C50 7. “wow”, again
> 
> Here are some of the types of entities you can access using GoogleLookup, and a few popular attribute names:
> 
> Countries and Territories (like “Burkina Faso”): population, capital, largest city, gdp U.S. States (like “Tennessee”): area, governor, nickname, flower Rivers (like “Amazon River”): origin, length Cities and Towns (like “Chicago”): state, mayor, elevation Musicians (like “John Lennon”): date of birth, place of birth, nationality Actors (like “Audrey Hepburn”): date of birth, place of birth, nationality Politicians (like “Anwar Al-Sadat”): date of birth, place of birth, nationality U.S. Presidents (like “Zachary Taylor”): date of birth, place of birth, political party Baseball Players (like “Wade Boggs”): games, at bats, earned run average, position Chemical Elements (like “Helium”): atomic number, discovered by, atomic weight Chemical Compounds (like “Isopropyl Alcohol”): chemical formula, melting point, boiling point, density Stars (like “Betelgeuse”): constellation, distance, mass, temperature Planets (like “Saturn”): number of moons, length of day, distance from sun, atmosphere Dinosaurs (like “Velociraptor”): height, weight, when it lived Ships (like “USS Chesapeake”): length, displacement, complement, commissioned Companies (like “Hewlett-Packard”): employees, ceo, ticker
> 
> 9\. Take a look at other Google functions in the “Google” tab of this page: [http://documents.google.com/support/spreadsheets/bin/answer.py?answer=82712&ctx;=](https://web.archive.org/web/20081225205201/http://documents.google.com/support/spreadsheets/bin/answer.py?answer=82712&ctx=) 10. “wow”, again and again
> 
> These are the reasons why web-based apps are far more superior than desktop-based ones. And with more and more microformats, I bet this funtion will definitely improve the way we organize information. That could make a pretty corporate goal ;-)”

*Originally published on ReadWriteWeb ([archived copy](https://web.archive.org/web/20020204040018/http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/googlelookup_wow.php))*