WebProWorld
Google’s Searchology event was today, and Google used this to give kind of a "state of search" presentation, something the company often does in a variety of formats.
One of the highlights of the event was Marissa Mayer introducing some changes to Google’s search results. This is called "Search Options," and allows users to "slice" and "dice" results in a number of ways.
In recent months, there has been a whole lot of talk about where search is going, and what search is lacking. This is commonplace for months encompassing the changing of years.
A big part of the discussion is personalized search. Many SEOs aren’t entirely thrilled with the idea. It changes the way they have to do things. Do searchers want it though?
As I was writing a piece on RushmoreDrive, the search engine (and more) that was created as a way to provide relevant results from the black community, I started thinking about how the future of search could impact its use and the use of niche search engines in general. Unfortunately, I have more questions than answers on this topic, but it raises some interesting questions nonetheless.
When someone searches for the term "dog," they’re very likely interested in our furry friends. But a few folks might be curious about digital on-screen graphics, and won’t want to dig through stuff about rottweilers and retrievers. So personalized search remains as important as ever.
YouTube said it is testing a new experimental personalized homepage with a small group of users it has selected at random.Don’t worry if you are not part of the group testing the new homepage, YouTube says it will give access to everyone in the near future. The experimental homepage will still have "Featured" and "Most Popular" videos but will add personalized recommendations, videos from subscriptions and a way to see what videos your friends are uploading and rating.
Another way that Google has changed the playing field as far as search engine optimization is through Personalized Search.
Early last month the Google Blog released a video regarding privacy. On Monday they released a second video this time specifically discussing privacy as it pertains to personalized search.
Once again support engineer Maile Ohye offers some clear explanations
Facebook’s a formidable entry in the social networking field – we all know this. But the company’s announcement that it is also doing well in people search (indeed, in Facebook’s own words, it is the “[m]ost used people search engine on the web”) came as a surprise to many.
Despite the session’s title, the Q&A quickly devolved into less of a discussion of “Fear or Not” and more into “Why did you do this to us, Google?!” (Followed closely by the response, “You’re not normal. Er, a regular user.”)
People want better search results, but the personalization technology that can enable it may be a little scary to the privacy-conscious.
