Google is extending its personalized search. From now on, all users will find their search results customized.Google can stores up to 180 days of signed-out search activity in the user’s cookie. It stores searches users have done before as well as results they have clicked so that if they favour a certain news site Google will feature that site higher whenever it delivers the results.
"Now as soon as you search using Google, we will be able to better provide you with the most appropriate results possible", software engineer Bryan Horling and product manager Matthew Kulick wrote in a blogpost announcing the change.
Previously only users who were signed in and had enabled their web history on their Google account found their search results customized.
At present this service has been expanded to each and every user so they can opt out by deleting Google's cookies in the browser or click "Web History" in the top right corner of the search result page and then "Disable customizations".
So users can turn personalization off – but since it is switched on by default nearly all users will leave it that way, and privacy advocates will very alarmed by the fact that will be an opt-out and not an opt-in service.
Google says the aim of the move is to provide better search results to its customers. One more reason is that by building a better profile of users' web activity it can target ads more precisely.
But most of all, it will build the life of those involved in search engine optimization harder as search results will differ from user to user. From now on, convincing Google algorithms to move forward a particular site to the top of the search results will be all the more difficult.
No comments:
Post a Comment