Google’s Personalised Search Results and your Business – SearchWiki
Well this one came completely unannounced. The power of Google is such that they no longer need to build up hype, it just spreads around like wildfire. I present to you. SearchWiki.
If you are a logged in google user (either of Gmail, documents, calendar or one of their zillion other services) you now alter the search results. If a site isn’t coming up which should, you can use a link at the bottom to add it directly to page 1… instantly. If a link isn’t relevant, you can use the arrows next to it to drop it down or remove it and keep the good content up top… instantly.
Now don’t get too excited, before the click wars begin, this isn’t a Google-wide change… that would be anarchy… in fact only you can see those changes, and only when logged in to your google account, but from any computer.
Why is this useful?
As Google’s search results change on a second by second basis, it can be hard to keep track on every useful site and page. Our bookmarks are filling up with sites we forget exist and things are becoming harder to find.
Now rather than bookmark it, move the link higher in the results so that the next time you look, it’s right there.
Business uses? practically none, but the next bit really caught my attention…
As well as moving Google search results, SearchWiki allows you to add notes and comments to the results. The last link underneath the site address drops down a little textbox. Again everytime this result appears in your search, you’ll get instant access to your own notes. This is useful as above but with one difference… everyone can see them… They have to click a link to, but they are visible. This means you can start adding notes not only to other’s sites but to your own. An extra few lines to promote your business and show people why your link is much better than anyone elses.
It does mean you can also comment on your competitors… This approach is not recommended as Slander and Libel cases are on the increase against digital bloggers and public internet authors.
Keep an eye on this one, perhaps with user generated results, Google may wish to start allowing the data to influence overall results… What better relevancy test than through the masses. There have already been numerous picture games associated with Google played around the world by millions of people. Only a percentage knew that they were actually describing image content for google’s image search. Google’s wonderful viral allowed it to index billions of images accross the globe in a matter of weeks.
Watch this space. In the meantime, here’s Google’s Lead Designer talking about SearchWiki:
Tags: edit results, Google, searchwiki
