Google distributes press releases to anyone who wants them. These bulletins contain news about Google's services and features, and are, of course, free.

groups.yahoo.com/group/googlepress/

Curiously, Google uses a Yahoo! Group to collect memberships in the distribution list. Normally, Yahoo! Groups are used to build online communities around a certain topic, and they enable message-board discussions, chat rooms, shared calendars, posted pictures, and other fun features. Google has all those features turned off and uses the group strictly for e-mailing newsletters.

You sign up for Google's press releases by joining the Googlepress group. If you have a Yahoo! ID already, follow these steps:

• Go to the following URL: groups.yahoo.com/group/googlepress/
• Click the Join This Group! link.
• Complete the Edit My Membership page.
• Here, you choose a Yahoo! ID (if you own multiple IDs), an e-mail address (if Yahoo! has more than one on file for your ID), the message delivery style, and the message format. It might take up to a day for your Yahoo! ID to be added to the group membership. During that time, you are classified as a Pending member.
• Click the Save Changes button.

If you don't have a Yahoo! ID, follow these steps:

• On the Googlepress home page, click the Join This Group! button.
• On the Sign In page, click the Sign up now link.
• On the Welcome to Yahoo! page, fill in all the required information fields, and then click the Submit This Form button.
• This page is a typical site registration page, but more complex than many. When you click the Submit button, Yahoo! sends a verification e-mail to the address you provided.
• Find the verification e-mail and click the link provided in the message body.
• A browser window appears with the information required to complete your membership to the Googlepress group.
• On the Join This Group page, make the choices required and then click the Join button.
• Check to make sure your provided information is correct. Decide how you would like to receive Google's newsletters. Select the Individual emails option - in this particular group it's the only option that makes sense. Then select whether you'd like your newsletter to arrive in HTML format or non-HTML (plain text). I prefer receiving the HTML format.

At this point you have joined the Googlepress group, and you see a Membership Pending page. The entire process is completed fairly quickly, and a confirmation e-mail is sent within a few minutes in most cases.

A lot of work to receive an occasional newsletter? You bet! Google is quite foolish to use a Yahoo! Group (which is designed for community interaction) for the simple task of sending press releases. There should be a one-step sign-up form within Google for this thing. This editorial comment has been brought to you free of charge.