Using the Google currency converter


If you have to convert monetary values frequently or just occasionally, you may have found that it is always a pain to find the exact quantity in a foreign currency. Although there are a number of web pages that provide this type of conversion, you always have to remember where it is located, and then enter the value as required.
Google tries to help in this kind of situation by providing an automatic currency converter, embedded in its search engine.



Functionality


The way the Google currency converter works is very simple. You can enter your values directly in the search box: it can be in the main Google page, the search bar in your web browser, or in a search box in a third-party web site. Google will process your request and return a currency value.



Syntax


You need, however, to put your search in a special format, so that Google can recognize that you want to make a currency conversion. The syntax of the search is as follows: the name and quantity of the original currency, followed by the name of the target currency.
To make this easier to grasp, look at the following example:
5 USD to Canadian dollar
Here we give the quantity and original currency, and follow it by the name of a foreign currency.
Other examples can give a better idea of how this works (these are examples taken directly from the Google help page)
3.5 USD in GBP
currency of Brazil in Malaysian money
5 British pounds in South Korean money
2.2 USD per gallon in INR per litre



Problems


The currency converter of Google does a great job, but it also has some limitations. One problem that I noticed is that sometimes it is hard to get the syntax that can be properly understood by Google. For example, the following
5 canadian dollar in USD
is not understood. You have to spend sometime trying until you get the right
5 CAD in USD.
Given these limitations, however, learning to use the Google currency converter is probably the easiest way to convert currencies, and you should give it a try.




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