GOOGLE Personalized Search Results Video
Dec 22nd, 2009 | By Gene A. Wright | Category: General, Information Technology, TechnologyFrom Google Blog
This video explains how Personalized Search works. Are we getting closer to Web 3.0?
What do you think?
I guess I’ll get the ball rolling…
I wasn’t sure what Web 3.0 meant, so I did a Google search on the term and found http://www.howstuffworks.com/web-30.htm . Based on the explanation there, it appears we are inching towards Web 3.0 with Google Personalized Search, which can adapt its display of results to your past searches. What I found interesting about the video was that the engineers in it made a point to indicate that one can turn off or opt-out of the features at any time. Not sure if that will allay people’s fears about privacy, etc., but I thought it was good that they put it in the video.
I opened up a Google page after watching the video and I couldn’t find “web history” in the top right corner. I do find it pretty interesting that Google has the ability to put searches higher if you’ve clicked on them before. It’s almost scary to think that Google knows me and my preferences. Nowadays, Google seems to have more products than I’ve tried or have heard of. I’m sure they would be of great use if I sat down and played with some of them. Does anyone have any favorite Google products?
A bold move for Google, on Tuesday when they launched a social networking section to their name.
In a CNN article, “Google Buzz goes after Facebook, Twitter”.They say that they built this based on what users want and don’t care about competition. And this will help with searching for information rather than just by “friends” which Facebook features.
Google’s attempt to enter Social Networking is overwhelming. I personally think it is more reason that they will be able to sell advertising with the exponential growth of knowledge they are getting form users. It will be interesting to see how user react to it and how much it will grow in addition to the already popular Facebook and Twitter.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/02/09/google.social/index.html?hpt=Sbin
I am very amazed that Google still could customize our search even if we do not have Gmail accounts.
The technology is amazing. I may sound a little suspicious in saying how long before the government uses this information for its own uses (national security or whatever) much like it uses the library to track individuals checking out books on subjects they deem characteristic of those that pose a threat. They may be doing this already. They are probably watching me right now. I gotta go.
Google has positioned themselves as a leader in the online information search industry. I find it satisfying that Google is continuing their innovation with personal search results for customers. While watching the video I found it a little threatening, the capabilities Google has with prior history on email. However, they immediately discussed how the cookies could be deactivated. This helped me feel reassured of their overall intentions.
I think it is a very good way to deliver personalized results. They are trying to lock everyone with Google. There is a potential forgetful factor, if we forget to sign out, we may be looking at outdated results and may not see the right results. Though you can sign out and search, personally, I never sign out of my account on my computer because I use email and lot of Google products simultaneously. It is interesting to see how google is trying to control our digital space arena….
A number of companies have tried to tie the web together, most notibly with single sign-on technologies linking together disparate websites (think Microsoft Live ID, for example). I personally am for an increasingly contextualized world. On the other hand, I am also the kind of person who will take random turns on the way home to explore areas new to me.
In an world with an ever increasing number of choices, having a way to filter that information into something relevant to me is important. However, I think this is less about smoothing out the choices presented to us and more about catering to the way many people use Google, which is as a portal rather than a search engine.
I think it would be a novel idea to see Google replace its “Google Search” and “I’m Feeling Lucky” buttons with something like “Relevant Search” and “Interesting Search” buttons. That way, if you were in a hurry and wanted the most relevant search results that are the most likely to be what you are looking for, you can use the “Relevant Search” button and if you are more curious as to what’s out there in the world, and maybe be exposed to something new, you can use the “Interesting Search” button.
I think this is great! I typically don’t use the internet to find new information, usually I look at the same sites. This customization will make looking up the kinds of things I want much easier. I like that if you don’t want your past history to affect your search results that you can delete it and Google won’t take it into consideration. I don’t know if I like that it is the default setting though… it would have been better if they let people opt in instead of opting out. My other question about this is whether other people can glean information from the cookie Google is placing on your computer. I don’t know if I would feel comfortable with just anyone on the internet being able to get that information.
It appears that we are making incremental steps towards Web 3.0. I think it’s very exciting stuff. I chuckle a bit at the comments regarding the government using this for evil…I am not quite sure why we are always so suspicious of people trying to make our lives easier and a little bit better. If you aren’t doing anything wrong what are you worried about!