AI-driven personalized search: A practical guide
See how personalized AI search uses entities, context, and multimodal signals to influence discovery beyond traditional rankings.
Topic: Personalized search
This day in search marketing history: February 23
Google penalizes Natural News, plus: Google AdSense separates YouTube earnings, BrightEdge acquires Oncrawl, florist war on AdWords and more.
This day in search marketing history: February 2
Google's revamped Partners program, plus: Bing again denies copying Google results, YouTube using Amazon's algorithm and more.
How Google search personalization works: Professors and politicians just don’t understand
Google has told us how search works. We know plenty about how it works. But a professor seems confused about search personalization.
8 game-changing SEO trends that will dominate 2018
With over 200 factors in Google’s algorithm, SEO is a complex science. But it’s not how much you need to know that makes it really challenging — it’s the ever-changing nature of the rules of the game. As search engines strive to improve the quality of search results, some ranking factors shift shapes, others fall […]
Google Now testing “Explore Interests” feature to make personal assistant app more personalized
TechCrunch reports the new feature aims to give Google Now users more control over the information Google tracks on their behalf.
TV Rank: Google Gets Patent On Using What You’re Watching To Influence Search Results
Google uses a variety of signals to determine how to rank search results, such examining linking patterns on the web, an individual’s geographic location, search history and more. Now, perhaps what you’re watching on TV might become a new factor. Bill Slawski, an SEO patent guru, posted on his blog that Google was recently granted […]
Google+ Authorship Images Live On
Search engine optimization professionals were caught off-guard back in June when Google’s John Mueller announced that the search giant would be “simplifying” the way authorship is displayed in search results. This simplification involved the removal of profile photos and circle counts from the search listings of pages with authorship enabled. We all know the author […]
Microsoft Testing “Bing Saves” Search Bookmarking Feature
Microsoft appears to be testing a new feature for Bing: Bing Saves. According to a Neowin community member who saw the beta, it’s a way to click and bookmark a search result for later retrieval from a personal Microsoft account. Below is a screenshot of the feature from Neowin. The utility of such a feature is […]
Yandex Turns Up The Dial On Personalized Search
The Russian search engine Yandex has announced changes to how it presents personalized search results, saying that personalization is now based on what’s happening within a single search session. When the company launched personalized results late last year, it was based primarily on looking at a user’s search history within the previous few weeks/months. Now, […]
Gmail Search Field Trial Adds Calendar Results To Google Search
Google keeps increasing the amount of information it will show from your Gmail account within your Google searches, if you’re part of the Gmail Search Field Trial. The latest addition? Your calendar results. The idea is that if you do a search, you’ll see matching information from your calendar showing within Google’s search results, when […]
Yandex Launches Personalized Search Results For Eastern Europe
Russia’s leading search engine, Yandex has launched an approach to personalizing search results for users in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan, affecting 75-80% of search queries and potentially all of the search results a user sees. Yandex has been testing the approach throughout the last year and found that users click 37% more often on […]
Of “Magic Keywords” & Flavors Of Personalized Search At Google
When is personalized search not personalized search? A recently discovered shift on how Google may alter your search results based on what you — and others in aggregate — previously have searched for may have you wondering how to answer that question. To understand the latest development, I think it’s helpful to go back and […]
Why Google “Personalizes” Results Based On Obama Searches But Not Romney
Do a search for “Obama,” and you might find your subsequent queries for things like “medicare” seemingly personalized based on your initial Obama search. Do the same for Romney, it is doesn’t happen. Is Google biased toward Obama, as some are now writing? No. Is it the “filter bubble” of personalization out of control? Perhaps […]
Reliving Favorite Moments From SMX Advanced 2012
SMX Advanced is my favorite conference of the year. Hands down. The sessions are always memorable, and I get to see a lot of the SEO “old timers” – you know…the SEOs who have been in the game for at least 10 years, which is like 70 years in Internet time. In conclusion, SMX Advanced […]
SMX Advanced 2012: Surviving Personalization With Bing & Google
Surviving Personalization With Bing & Google Presentations from SMX Advanced, June 2012 The “new normal” search results are personalized, with search history, location and social interactions used to customize the results searchers see. This session looks at how Google taps into Google+ for its new Search Plus Your World and how Bing uses Facebook to […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, April 13, 2012
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: In Depth: Search Gear For The Titanic Centennial April 15th marks the 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, and there will be no shortage of news coverage (or hype) […]
Video: Google’s Susan Wojcicki Keynotes SMX West 2012
Susan Wojcicki, Google’s SVP of Advertising, spoke at our recent SMX West search marketing conference in a keynote conversation with Search Engine Land’s Danny Sullivan and Chris Sherman. The conversation covered many different topics — not just the advertising side of Google where Susan is most heavily involved — from privacy issues to mobile marketing […]
Survey Paradox: People Like Google But Not What It’s Doing
Last week the Pew Internet Project released findings of a survey on search, personalization and targeted advertising. In a nutshell, survey respondents had a very positive view of search and the quality of search results. Yet the majority gave an unequivocal thumbs down to search personalization (and behavioral targeting). This isn’t necessarily a contradiction or paradox […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, March 9, 2012
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Four Seriously Cool Information Resources As a librarian, researcher and frequent blogger, I’m constantly coming across incredibly useful online information resources that are most effectively searched using their own site search […]
Pew Report: 65% View Personalized Search As Bad; 73% See It As Privacy Invasion
Personalized search? Both Google and Bing will tell you that it provides better results. But two-thirds say they don’t care. They view personalized search as a “bad thing,” a new survey finds. Nearly three-quarters also view gathering data to personalize results to be a privacy invasion. The findings come out of a survey from the Pew Internet & […]
Bing Launches Linked Pages, Promises Better People Search Results
Microsoft Bing announced a new feature named Linked Pages. The purpose is to make the search results for you and your friends more personalized as well as richer. If I am friends with you and you do a search in Bing for [barry schwartz] you will see the following search result at the top: Linked […]
Survey: People Largely Negative About Google’s Personalized Search Results
Last month, market research tool provider Ask Your Target Market surveyed 400 US adults about their attitudes toward personalized search on Google. The results were reported today in eMarketer’s email newsletter. We went back to the source to check out the survey and discovered that the majority of respondents expressed ambivalence or outright dissatisfaction about Google’s […]
Google’s Results Get More Personal With “Search Plus Your World”
Google’s search results are undergoing their most radical transformation ever, as a new “Search Plus Your World” format begins rolling out today. It finds both content that’s been shared with you privately along with matches from the public web, all mixed into a single set of listings. The change is live now, though not everyone will […]
SMX East 2011: The Current State Of Personalized Search
The Current State Of Personalized Search Presentations from SMX East – NYC, NY, September 2011 Personalized search isn’t just a Google thing, anymore. Bing does personalization, too. This session looks at how results are being personalized on both services and what marketers need to consider in a world where searchers all see a different set […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, September 15, 2011
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: SMX East 2011 Day Three Recap Day three of the SMX East conference is just about done. Below is some of the live blog coverage I discovered throughout the day. Beyond […]
SMX East 2011 Day Three Recap
Day three of the SMX East conference is just about done. Below is some of the live blog coverage I discovered throughout the day. Beyond Rankings: Actionable SEO Reports Your Boss Will Love, outspokenmedia.com Bing and Personalized Search at SMX East – #smx #23B, adCenter Blog Link Building: Why You’re Doing It Wrong : SMX […]
SMX East 2011 Day Two Recap
Day two of the SMX East conference is just about done. Below is some of the live blog coverage I discovered throughout the day. #SMX East Speaker Series: Some of My Favorite Microsoft Advertising adCenter Features, adCenter Blog A Keynote Conversation With Eli Pariser : SMX East 2011 Live, Search Engine Roundtable Best of SMX […]
SearchCap: The Day In Search, June 21, 2011
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Comparing Facebook Like vs. Google +1 Google’s new +1 feature was one of SMX Advanced Seattle most engaging sessions and, as a speaker, I have received a wide variety of feedback […]
Google’s Search Results Get More Social; Twitter As The New Facebook “Like”
Your friends’ activity on Twitter, Flickr and elsewhere — but for now, not Facebook — will soon be a lot more visible in Google’s search results, including having an impact on how pages rank. Google has announced an expansion of its Google Social Search results that’s beginning to roll out today on Google.com. Here’s a […]
Study Asks, Can You Trust Google’s Personalized Search Results?
New research designed to analyze Google’s personalized search results and make the process the search engine uses more transparent has generated interesting and controversial findings. The study examined a number of commonly held notions about personalization, including the idea that personalization is subtle, that it can often surface more long-tail results, and that personalization is […]
Bing Results Get Localized & Personalized
The idea of “normal” search results died a little more today, as Bing has begun delivering personalized listings depending on a searcher’s location or past search history. Google has already been doing the same for several years.
SearchCap: The Day In Search, June 24, 2010
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: 8 Easy Ways To Monitor The SEO Your Competition Is Doing If you’re a marketer and you’re currently tied up with other initiatives (campaigns, new site launch, etc.), or a search […]
Official: Google Won’t Offer Option To Restore “Classic Google” Look
As I covered in my article about Google’s new look, while the new design appears to have been widely accepted without complaint, there are some who want “old” or “Classic Google” back. Google tells me that’s not going to happen. But there is an unofficial way to force the old look to appear, for those […]
Study Looks At Personalization’s Impact On Search Results
A group of SEOs is testing the impact that personalized search has on a search results page. David Harry, posting today on his blog, has shared some of the preliminary findings while also admitting that the testing is in its early stages and there are “no definitive answers” to be found yet. That said, it […]
Google Launches Real Time Search Results
So finally, we’ve got Google Real Time search, as the company has announced. Below, I’m doing a quick hit on what’s it is, how to use it and how it compares to that last Google real time search thing you may recall hearing about. How do you get it? It’s rolling out over the next […]
Google’s Personalized Results: The “New Normal” That Deserves Extraordinary Attention
On Friday afternoon, Google made the biggest change that has ever happened in search engines, and the world largely yawned. Maybe Google timed its announcement that it was personalizing everyone’s search results just right, so few would notice. Maybe no one really understood how significant the change was. Whatever the reason, it was a huge […]
Google Now Personalizes Everyone’s Search Results
Beginning today, Google will now personalize the search results of anyone who uses its search engine, regardless of whether they’ve opted-in to a previously existing personalization feature. Searchers will have the ability to opt-out completely, and there are various protections designed to safeguard privacy. However, being opt-out rather than opt-in will likely raise some concerns. […]
Google Social Search Is Coming & More On Google-Twitter
Google’s Marissa Mayer has announced at the Web 2.0 Summit that Google Social Search will be launching in the coming weeks. I’ve seen an early release of it. It’s way cool. Below, what details we have now about this plus some follow up on today’s Google-Twitter search deal that was announced. NOTE: Google Social Search […]
SMX West 2009 Podcast: Search Wiki & Personalized Search
SearchWiki, Google Personalized Results and search customization based on previous queries or geographic location are all ways that Google’s “regular” results seem to be disappearing. This session looks at how “one-size-fits-all” results at Google are continuing to disappear, along with strategies on how to be successful in a more personalized results environment. Click the play […]