Forum Moderators: Robert Charlton & goodroi
Today we're helping people get better search results by extending Personalized Search to signed-out users worldwide
That's a staggering statement meaning that every computer accessing Google is now being personalized, signed in or not, so any desktop, laptop or kiosk will start tracking everything everyone does and you won't be able to access the same search results from any two machines.
The possible impact to all is staggering.
but personalised search is a different kettle of fish. because you are telling google want you want. they already know what you want to see. how does merging your new query into one you made a few days ago make it better?
Depends on how it's implemented. If personalized search is just a weighting factor (along with many others), it could be useful. For example, when I'm searching on "hotel whatsit," I have no interest in seeing booking pages at OTA or affiliate sites. I want to see the Hotel Whatsit's Web site (whose URL may not be as obvious as "hotelwhatsit.com") and maybe some hotel reviews. If Google can discern, over time, that I'm more interested in hotel sites and hotel reviews than in booking pages when I'm searching on a phrase with the word "hotel," I'll see more of those and fewer pages from sites like cheap-hotels-in-elbonia.com. That may not be good news for cheap-hotels-in-elbonia.com, but it will improve the quality of my search experience and keep me happy with the search engine.
If, on the other hand, personalized search becomes nothing more than a bookmarking utility dressed up as a search engine, it won't please me and I'll do my searching somewhere else.
.....thats what I thought ;)
Remember when this forum was ablaze with flames against Universal Search? Members were complaining that searchers had to wade through YouTube videos, maps, and other clutter on a SERP before reaching the Web search results.
With personalization, Google should be able to configure Universal Search pages based on the searcher's habits. If Joe User never clicks on business listings, YouTube videos, or Google News stories when using Web search, then it's reasonable to assume that Google will serve fewer such results to him as it learns his preferences (not unlike the menus in Microsoft Word that learn which features a Word owner actually uses).
If Joe User never clicks on business listings, YouTube videos, or Google News stories when using Web search, then it's reasonable to assume that Google will serve fewer such results to him
And pigs might fly fly over the plex towing adwords on ripsilk banners..
accept and embrace Gorgs default optin personalised search .so as to avoid Gorg products in and around serps..
and the more I use Microsoft products ..the more open source will come out of redmond ..
some of us are obviously not posting from planet earth ..and it aint me
[edited by: Leosghost at 5:15 pm (utc) on Dec. 8, 2009]
If Joe User never clicks on business listings, YouTube videos, or Google News stories when using Web search, then it's reasonable to assume that Google will serve fewer such results to him
doubt it. google is trying to increase their product's exposure.
they aren't going to suddenly start taking them off and increase the visibility of the non money-making links in the serps.
they aren't going to suddenly start taking them off and increase the visibility of the non money-making links in the serps.
In my admittedly informal testing (using my logged-in account on one computer and non-personalized search on a brand-new laptop), I've noticed less "clutter" on the personalized SERPs than on the non-personalized SERPs. So I'm inclined to think that user preferences are taken into account.
It's worth noting, too, that Google historically has been willing to sacrifice short-term profits in its pursuit of long-term goals. Unlike Inktomi/Yahoo, for example, Google eschewed PFI, and over the years, Google's AdWords/AdSense operation has introduced smart pricing (which reduces Google's earnings per click), has closed accounts of click arbitrageurs (which cuts ad revenues in the short term), and has tightened its definition of a "valid click" (which has an obvious impact on revenues). So, based on history, I'd guess that Google isn't interested in compromising the user experience for its core product and cash cow (Google Search) just to get more people looking at YouTube, Google Earth, or Product Search results.
In my admittedly informal testing (using my logged-in account on one computer and non-personalized search on a brand-new laptop), I've noticed less "clutter" on the personalized SERPs than on the non-personalized SERPs. So I'm inclined to think that user preferences are taken into account.
And I have found the precise opposite ..the only "refinement" if one can call it that is the smaller adwords users are less evident ..the shopping site ads are back to the "get your dead popes" here level of "quality"..and Gorg insists on leading me up total blind alleys ( with evermore inaccurate guesses of my searches ..but evermore insistence based upon their interpretation of previous ones ) but anyway larding the serps ( to the tune of 40% or more of each serp page ) with youtube , gorgnews, images from gorg ..and half of the rest are B2B directories ( with sign up to see ) sites or outright spammers ..and trademark abusers ..
"Personalised search blocked" mode however has less gorg product ( athough still some ) ..and the same very restricted ( but "dead pope" spammy ) range of Gorg approved adwords shopzillas, ebays and leprixmoinscher ( the latter apparently can guarantee that they have the cheapest planet pluto,marsupials,and snotballs or whatever the search term is you type ) ..don't know what they call themselves in the USA..but Gorg love their QS ..and in personalised mode they think that so do I.
they fade out after page 2 in "personalised search blocked mode" ..with personalised search not blocked they just keep coming ..they are omnipresent .."click me" or your dog will die and your house will catch fire ..
[edited by: Leosghost at 6:32 pm (utc) on Dec. 8, 2009]
LOL Leosghost!. I had to check it out, and sure enough, I too can, "Find Dead Popes at Great Prices."
Well, some people do collect saints' relics. Got any bones in your attic? :-)
Seriously, though, personalized search is likely to evolve (just as other aspects of the Google search experience have evolved), so it's probably a bit early to draw conclusions about how well or badly it will perform over the long haul. We'll just have to wait and see.
Back to the privacy issue, which has been a major topic of this thread:
Google's personalized search is only one small aspect of the privacy issue, both on and off the Web. Since Webmaster World is specifically about the Web, let's explore two possibilities that would have a huge (and beneficial) impact on privacy, albeit with some sacrifice of user convenience:
1) Ban cookies outright. Or, more practically...
2) Require a window or page to appear whenever a site tries to plant a tracking cookie for any reason. The user would be told "This site wants to store a tracking file on your computer," along with a message that explained why, e.g.:
"The tracking file will be stored on your computer indefinitely and used to personalize Google search results based on your search history and habits. We will not use any stored tracking data for other purposes or share it willingly with outside organizations, although it could be made available to law-enforcement agencies in the event of a court order.
"May we store the tracking file on your computer? [ ] Yes [ ] No"
or:
"This tracking file will be stored on your computer for 45 days. If you make a purchase from us during that time, a commission will be paid to the site that referred you. We will not use any stored tracking data for other purposes or share it willingly with outside organizations, although it could be made available to law-enforcement agencies in the event of a court order.
"May we store the tracking file on your computer? [ ] Yes [ ] No"
What do you think? Wouldn't this be more effective in securing privacy for Web users than simply trying to hobble Google would be?
"Find Dead Popes at Great Prices."
Gee, I was half afraid to even type in this query for fear that somehow that data were be interpreted as wanting the Pope dead
and the information would be sent to the "appropriate" intelligence agencies.
Using a different noun other than "Pope" WOULD DO EXACTLY THAT!
