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.
Once there is a better search engine, but there is not. And the only alternative, Bing, has been far more dedicated to personalized search than Google so in the long run they are much worse, even if now they are technologically behind Google in this race into the abyss.
And that, of course, implies getting rid of SEO
Not to mention that people will most likely get worse SERPs -- but others here are fightly that battle more eloquently than I...
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Google will harvest and store it, the intelligence agencies will consume it.
True.
However, if people in massess start to migrate to another search provider, Google will either go down in flames or reverse their position and make it opt in.
Either or, the days of Google getting a blank check from the community that is responsible for making them what they are, are over.
Again, don't just talk about it on this board.
Tell your friends, neighbors whoever you can that Google is in fact "Very Evil" and is spying on everything you do.
Most of the average people who use the Internet are not very technical and if a technical person tells them something, they usually believe it. After all, it was us techies telling everybody how great Google was that made them as powerful as they are. Over time, that position can be reversed and Google is making it easier for that to happen because they all live in La La land.
They are intent on controlling everything you see, here or read.
They are "Big Brother" in every sense of the word.
it has to do with Google acting unilaterally to harvest and archive personal information
Yep. They've been doing it for a long time and everybody loves it!
They have no intrinsic right to do that
Then maybe those of us who screamed WOLF back in 2002 were not the bad guys after all? You're a decade too late pal. Google is our overlord now.
However, I do think they're going to face massive problems in the EU. The recent laws about cookies say (paraphrasing):
cookie use has to be opt-in, unless strictly necessary for the provision of a service explicitly requested by the user
This law comes into force across the EU's 27 member states in 2011 (April 26th)
I think the only way they'll be able to make this fly in Europe is by having a Personalized Search button - then the service is explicitly requested by the user. (Then again, I guess one way round this would be to market themselves as a Personalized search engine - therefore that is now the service they provide and the service you are looking for).
Either way, I think the EU will come down on them for this
personalized Google results will help people, but they should be made more aware that everything done online can be tracked...from browsers to cookies to ISP level, etc.
Spot on! I agree that while Google is the best engine out there, they may have made little tiny mistakes here and there, thus not diminishing their value at all. The end user is a fair judge and will always go with the best solutions, Google is king and will continue to be king.
Personally, I don't think the average Joe will care about this
I respectfully disagree. The average joe WILL notice, but I think they'll note the higher quality in relevant results returned. The relevancy will be a prime factor and as people see more and more the topics Google knows they like, they'll be more pleased with the results.
I recall the days when Matt Cutts was here daily
Shame he didn't make more than 32 posts in over 3 years!
kjennings - you joined the forum today and you have done nothing but make positive posts about Google on the most critical threads about Google on these boards since the Florida update. If I wasn't an old cynic I'd think you were a thinly veiled Google PR person. In fact I am an old cynic and I think you are a Google PR person.
Cheers
Sid
