Comments on: Google Ramps Up Personalized Search

By: Catinka Knoth

Catinka Knoth — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 17:41:20 +0000

I've been dreading the day this would happen. I rely so much on unintended search results for answers and ideas. For instance I landed here looking for the meaning of the code 'gbv' that now appears in google search result urls. I did not find that answer but learned this dreaded news instead. It is this serendipitous aspect that I've found just as important in using Google. Too much predictability makes for narrow visions. I can only have faith that unpredictability will always be there, no matter what we try. It is the nature of life.

I've posted about this in my blog CKnotes and linked to your article.
Regards, Catinka Knoth

By: shantanuo

shantanuo — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 12:34:33 +0000

Personalized search is exactly what I am waiting for since 2004 (when google introduced it for the first time) http://tinyurl.com/39geyt

By: Theebusinessresource

Theebusinessresource — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 17:36:45 +0000

Danny, great article – thank you!

One major question that comes to mind is – Will the ranking, trends and behaviors of other user’s personalized search also affect my results, for the first time I search on a given topic?

I’ve also provided my thoughts on my blog – Google’s Personalized Search Debate

By: schachin

schachin — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 18:38:42 +0000

I agree with the people who posted dissenting opinions about the personalized search. I have very diverse interests based on my type of work, school, where I live (vegas) and personal interests etc. The diversity of these areas are not conducive to narrowed search options.

Also I like the point made about when the results are lacking and I conduct a new search .. I want NEW results not more of the same..

Also, just because I use one site for many things does not mean it is good for the others… ie a list apart is a great CSS code site for lists, but not all CSS issues.. so if I spend a lot of time searching for list issues one week the next time I search for CSS code that is what will show.. ??

I think this was a bad bad bad idea.. and not to mention the privacy issues. Some of you believe this is inevitable. I think once the average american understands that Google now has a record of every search ever performed and can associate it with your name and user account personalized search will die a very quick death..

The bottom line is the search engine should do better on removing spam without involving a limitation on my search results. I should be able to see the plethora of information on a subject and be able to filter my own results.

Bad Google! No biscuit for you! ;)
If it were an opt in program or had that toggle button mentioned in this article, I might not mind so much, but right now I am very unhappy with Google.

By: Chris Parente

Chris Parente — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 15:48:09 +0000

Great article Danny, thanks much for the level of detail. As adoption rises, how do you see this type of personalization affecting so-called professional search?

In one sense it’s great, I’m already starting from a smaller universe of sites I’ve helped define. In the other it’s not, since when someone in researching a topic they don’t always know exactly what they’re looking for. To put it another way, does personalization decrease the chances for an “A-Ha” moment of finding something I didn’t already know was relevant to my query?

By: gene evangelist

gene evangelist — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 02:40:09 +0000

Thanks for the great article.
Personalized search could be a good idea under some circumstances for the search engine.
Is it good for the searcher?
Ask yourself this question:
If I’m searching again for widgets,
obviously my first widget search left me unstatisfied, THATS WHY I’M SEARCHING AGAIN,
do I want to be given another batch of the same unsatisfying results?

By: Arnaud fischer

Arnaud fischer — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 01:10:01 +0000

SEL, this is awesome, awesome social search coverage! To paraphrase smarter people, information retrieval is reaching another inflexion point. There is a shift taking place from Search engines having the power to search users getting empowered, from the head to the tail, from a “few-to-many” to a “many-to-many” publishing model. Social search is changing the rules. Another way to think of it is Social Search is the 3rd big evolution of the search business after i) algorithmic search, ii) paid search models, and now iii) Social Search. Web 2.0 trends all converge toward social search: social networking, consumer generated media, open platforms and syndication models, new user interaction models.

At first relevance was about i) “on-the-page criteria”, then ii) about “off-the-page criteria” like meta tags, then about iv) Web connectivity and link authority like PageRank, and finally, now, about v) people, people networks and communities. Social search is the new deal and there is no turning back.

By: aimclear

aimclear — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 18:24:14 +0000

Steve you are so right. At the end of the day content has been (and always will be) KING.

By: Steve Amundsen

Steve Amundsen — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 17:45:00 +0000

Thanks for a great post, Danny. As always you have a keen eye for the Intuitive Obvious. It is clear that the principles that guide intelligent SEO will continue to be even more relevant with personalized search. After all, are we not striving to provide relevant content and user experience to our optimized sites? If so, then we will see improved results from personalized search. The wannabes will disappear, and the truly relevant will emerge victorious.

By: DBrooks

DBrooks — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 16:07:04 +0000

It seem like SEO just got a lot more esoteric and ambiguous. I am not sure I like this new direction but maybe personalized search is an inevitability; the price we will all have to pay for spam.