Beginning on December 4th, Google will now personalize the search results of anyone who uses its search engine.
So why personalize the search results? By watching what search result you click on, Google can learn which websites you prefer. For example, if you often search and click on links from Amazon that appear in Google’s results, over time, Google learns that you really like Amazon. In reaction, it gives Amazon a ranking boost. That means you start seeing more Amazon listings, perhaps for searches where Amazon wasn’t showing up before.
The results will now be custom tailored for each individual. For example, let’s say someone else prefers Barnes & Nobles. Over time, Google learns that person likes Barnes & Noble. They begin to see even more Barnes & Nobles listings, rather than Amazon ones.
Privacy Issues
To personalize results, Google has to record what you’re doing which raises a number of questions: Can people see what you’ve looked for? How long is the material kept? Can you just turn it off?
The reality is, you can’t turn it off. A history is kept for 180 days. You can delete that history at any time, but, most importantly, even if you don’t the history can’t actually be viewed.
Essentially, we now have to types of personalized search, or “Web History” as Google officially calls it. There’s a Signed-Out Web History and Signed-In Web History.
In Signed-Out Web History, Google knows that it has seen someone using a particular browser before andGoogle has tracked all the searches that have been done by that browser. It also logs all the things people have clicked on from Google’s search results, when using that browser. There’s no way to see this information, but it is used to customize the results that are shown. It only keeps that history for 180 days and any information older than 180 days is forgotten. Google doesn’t know your name. If you use a different browser, Google doesn’t know your past history. In fact, you can’t even see your past history.
In Signed-In Web History, Google knows that a particular Google user is using Google. It maintains a record of all the things that person has done when signed-in, regardless of what computer or browser they’ve used. If they’re using the Google Toolbar with the page tracking feature enabled, then it has also kept a record of all the pages they’ve viewed over time. This information can be viewed by the user at any time, and the user can selectively delete info. They can also delete everything, if they want. If they don’t, then Google forgets nothing.
Here is a simple chart that will help put things in more perspective:
What are your thoughts on personalized search?
