Google vs search engine position tool

[hal]

How can one check position in Google without running afoul of their guidelines? The Google Guidelines for Webmasters (http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html#quality) says, "Don't use unauthorized computer programs to submit pages, check rankings, etc. Such programs consume computing resources and violate our terms of service."

I did find http://www.seocount.com/ which claims to be "the only product of its kind that utilizes the Google Web API." Is "of its kind" weasel-wording, or is this really a valid claim? Is this the only way you can check position without getting dinged by Google -- other than trying to interpolate their PageRank bar lengths?

Thanks,

Hal

[marketershandbook.com]

If you want to check your position in ANY search engine for a certain keyword, then go to the search engine, type in your keyword and search through the results until you find your website.