Site Flavored Web Search

[Brett_Tabke]

New Google Site-Flavored Google Search

...you can customize search results based on the content of your website. Simply fill out a profile based on your site's content, generate the search box HTML, and then paste this HTML into your pages. Users who search from this search box will have the option to "flavor" their results based on the profile you've created.

[europeforvisitors]

What are we missing? What is the value here?

Brett, "site-flavored" search is for the user, not for businesses that are trying to sell him something. Sometimes people here forget that the Web isn't only about e-commerce. :-)

IMHO, site-flavored search is a great tool for information sites that want to offer a better user experience and to serve as a hub or starting point for user searches.

I've already added it to my search page. I'll like it even better when it's combined with AdSense Search or Google SiteSearch instead of being a WWW-only tool.

[Teknorat]

I'm using it with great success on a non profit site. :)

[bpresent]

What do you mean by great success please?

Are people using it?

Are more people visiting your site?

Have you implemented it such that your users remain on your site once they've done the search (eg. serving the search results in a new window)?

Have you tracked them navigating back to your site following the search?

Do you have ads on the same page and they are clicking on them rather than the search?

[europeforvisitors]

GoogleGuy wrote:

Not sure if there's a "search my site, then as a fallback search the web automatically"

Now, that would be a really cool feature for SiteSearch or AdSense search--at least on information sites that recognize the value of the first two W's in "WWW." :-)

[anallawalla]

I have a couple of user group related directories, e.g. "find your local widget user group" - my whole raison d'etre for those sites is to "drive the visitor away" - to their nearest user group. They've been up before affiliate marketing was invented :)

I plonked the new SiteSearch on them before I read about this one, but I agree that the two combined would be more useful.

[Teknorat]

bpresent- I mean that it's coming up with relevant results for niche searches that normally come up with spam and irrelevant sites. Users have commented on it's accuracy. I have no reason to keep them on my site as I said it's non profit.

[webnewton]

In most cases, changing the customization setting to adjust the ordering of results has a positive effect on relevancy, because the changes are based on the content of the site from which you did your search. Sometimes it doesn't work that way. We're still ironing out the kinks in this beta test product and encourage you to give us feedback.

Is this an algirithmic fine tuning excercise at thier end?