30 July 2008
Google tell all about customised search results
The Google Blog *just* announced that starting from today users will be seeing messages above their search results informing them that their results have been customised for them in some way. As you can see in the picture above (from the Google Blog) you can click a link giving more details which will explain exactly what information has been used to customise your results. Google says,
This new feature doesn’t change anything at all about how you search on Google and the results you get; it just gives you more of a behind-the-scenes look at how we customize your search experience.
Your results can be customised based on location, web history (which sites you have visited) or recent searches.
I find it quite surprising that Google use my web history to refine my results. In terms of privacy, it’s a bit scary, but surely the sites I’ve been too in the past should affect the sites i’m looking for now? Aren’t my search results just going to end up being the sites I visit all the time? I know it won’t quite work like that - but what about smaller sites that I’ve never visited that have great content?
It’s worth saying that Google will only use your web history if you have enabled it - but if you’ve not used it, it’s a very interesting tool…and can be useful for those moments where you want a site you searched for 2 days ago but can’t remember the name of.
Let me know if you’re seeing this - I’m not as yet but I’m looking forward to checking it out when I do!