Google is now showing "search customization" messages to inform searchers when their search results have been modified from "normal" due to a searcher's geographic location, previous query or web surfing and search history. It's a nice move to help searchers know what exactly is going on "under the hood" at Google and override it if the wrong choices are being made. I'd like to see more of it. What's Normal? There was a time when everyone saw exactly the same search results at the major search engines. Over time, this has changed. In particular, geographic targe [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Search Customization | Google: Web History & Search History | Google: Web Search | Search Features: General

The Google Like/Don't Like feature, where you can move up results, hide search results, or remove search results, seems to have been expanded to a group of test searchers. We have reports from TechCrunch, Google Operating System, and Justin Hileman, with reports of users seeing this feature in the main search results. Justin does an excellent job taking us through each feature with screen shots. I personally have never seen an implementation of this on any of my searches. But I know Google has been testing this over the course of the year. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Labs | Google: Personalized Search | Google: User Interface | Google: Web History & Search History | Google: Web Search | Search Engines: Experimental | Search Engines: Personalized Search Engines | Search Features: Search History & Personalization

A new research paper from Microsoft looks at how surfing behavior -- as logged by a search toolbar -- can be used to improve search results. The study used data from the Windows Live Toolbar: For each user, interaction logs were grouped based on browser identifier information. Within each browser instance, user navigation was summarized as a path known as a browser trail, from the first to the last Web page visited in that browser. Located within some of these trails are search trails that originated with a query submission to a commercial search engine; it is these search trails [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Toolbar | Google: Web History & Search History | Microsoft: Bing | Stats: Relevancy | Stats: Search Behavior

VentureBeat has a nice Q&A with Google's Marissa Mayer on how the search engine is considering using social data to improve its search results -- what I've described as "Search 4.0" as a generational jump in my Search 3.0 article from earlier this year. Some highlights below: Social search is hard, in that many searches are sensitive, so letting people in your network know what you are looking for raises serious privacy issues.   Google might try doing more with labeling or tagging results as a way to implement social search. Marissa talked about the existing Google Co [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: OpenSocial | Google: Web History & Search History | Google: Web Search | Search 4.0 | Search Engines: Social Search Engines

Google has rolled out a new experimental feature that allows anyone to alter search results in the way they like. You can move good results higher, hide ones you think are bad and suggest your own. Google was spotted testing this feature with selected users back in August and September, and then Googlified spotted it going live this week for anyone to use. As you can see from the screen capture below, this new feature enables users to vote up a search result or completely remove a search result from the index. Clicking the up arrow will promote the search result to the top spot for that ke [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Labs | Google: Personalized Search | Google: User Interface | Google: Web History & Search History | Google: Web Search | Search Engines: Social Search Engines | Search Features: Search History & Personalization

Google Operating System reports Google Blog Searches are now included in Google Web History. I personally use Blog Search often to find new links to my blog, as well as locate more details on recent stories I may be covering. Here is an example of a search in blog search that shows the new feature being announced directly under the search box. Here is an example of my recent Google blog search, including link command and normal keyword searches. Note that they include both the searches I have done and the results I clicked on. [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Blog Search | Google: Web History & Search History

I reported at the Search Engine Roundtable that some searchers are noticing that Google is asking them to suggest search results that will "help improve search for everyone," says the Google message. The review URL submission, takes you to a login page, which then takes you to a form that looks like this: Next time you do a search on that phrase, your suggested result will be shown with a red asterisk. Google also says: If you click yes, we'll save this suggestion with your Google Account so we can use it to improve your search results. This is an experimental feature and, based on this [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Personalized Search | Google: User Interface | Google: Web History & Search History | Google: Web Search

Yesterday was "Google Personalization Day" for me and a number of others who attended a meeting at Google with Marissa Mayer, VP of Search Products & User Experience, as well as Google Personalization Technical Lead Sep Kamvar and iGoogle Product Manager Jessica Ewing. Barry has captured much of the factual information coming out of the meeting in his post yesterday afternoon. And Danny and Chris wrote about different aspects of Google's new personalization push earlier this year. To recap briefly, this is what was announced yesterday:The Google personalized homepage has officially been rena [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: iGoogle | Google: Maps & Local | Google: Personalized Search | Google: Web History & Search History

Google's Search History feature, which was switched on as a default option for many Google searchers in February, has now been renamed Web History to reflect how it has expanded to track what Google users do as they surf the web. It's a huge move for Google and raises anew privacy issues. Below, a detailed look at how the system works, how to pause or delete logging if you want, the impact on search results and more.This is a big story, and not all parts may be of interest to everyone. If you want to skip ahead, use the links to jump to particular sections: Web History Depends On G [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Personalized Search | Google: Web History & Search History

Google is rolling out two features today that subtly but meaningfully enhance the level of personalization offered to anyone with a Google account. And while they're tied to your search behavior, they don't directly alter the standard search results you see, even if you've enabled personalization by searching while signed in to Google account. The first feature allows you to add a "recommendations" tab to a Google personalized home page. To enable the feature, simply add a new tab, name it "recommendations" and tick the "I'm feeling lucky - automatically add stuff based on the tab name" che [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Personalized Search | Google: Toolbar | Google: Web History & Search History

Google is stepping up the push into personalized search results. A new change announced today should cause many more people to take up the service. In turn, the growth of personalized search should have a dramatic impact on search marketers as the days of "same results, all around" eventually come to an end. For searchers, the change means needing to be more careful about when you sign-up to use a Google service, if you're concerned about having your search history recorded. More about both issues, in the story below. NOTE: See Google Now Personalizes Everyone’s Search Results for [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: iGoogle | Google: Personalized Search | Google: Web History & Search History | Legal: Privacy | Search Engines: Personalized Search Engines

Google Operating Systems reports that Google has added your sponsored link click activity to Google Search History. For example, I looked at my search history and limited it to just sponsored links, and I noticed I search for "gift dad" and clicked on an ad, yes my dad and father-in-law's birthdays are coming up. Here is a screen capture: [...]

Related Topics: Channel: SEO | Google: Web History & Search History