  The launch of Google Scholar back in 2004 meant a revolution not only in the
scientific information search market but also in research evaluation processes.
Its dynamism, unparalleled coverage, and uncontrolled indexing make of Google
Scholar an unusual product, especially when compared to traditional
bibliographic databases. Conceived primarily as a discovery tool for academic
information, it presents a number of limitations as a bibliometric tool. The
main objective of this chapter is to show how Google Scholar operates and how
its core database may be used for bibliometric purposes. To do this, the
general features of the search engine (in terms of document typologies,
disciplines, and coverage) are analysed. Lastly, several bibliometric tools
based on Google Scholar data, both official (Google Scholar Metrics, Google
Scholar Citations), and some developed by third parties (H Index Scholar,
Publishers Scholar Metrics, Proceedings Scholar Metrics, Journal Scholar
Metrics, Scholar Mirrors), as well as software to collect and process data from
this source (Publish or Perish, Scholarometer) are introduced, aiming to
illustrate the potential bibliometric uses of this source.
