Google is the most popular and successful internet search engine, and here's a top utility for all those who just can't get enough of it.

Google Toolbar is designed exclusively for Internet Explorer 5.0 or later and offers instant access to a variety of Google facilities. You can use Google from any web page, as well as drill down within the website you're currently visiting.

Further buttons allow you to access Google's image search, Google Groups and its web directory.

There's also a graphical bar representing the page rank. This is Google's measure of a page's quality, defined as one which has more links to it from other sites.

Version 4.0 gives users the ability to customise the toolbar in a variety of ways. You can now create buttons for websites and add custom buttons that allow for searches directly within a website.

The search now incorporates spelling and query suggestions, with the added functionality of sending pages via Gmail, SMS, or through your own blog.