Poll: Has Personalization Improved Your Google Search Results?
Written by Richard MacManus / August 6, 2007 1:47 AM
/ 9 Comments
This week's poll is part of our R/WW Files on Personalizing Google. We're asking if you've noticed much difference in your Google search results, now that Google claims you can "get more relevant search results" when signed into Google Accounts. Let us know what you think.
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Seems like a kind of redundant question. You'd think that Google would aspire to improve search results without the user actually noticing, other than perhaps through the fact that you find what you're looking for relatively more quickly than before.
So for this poll, the most positive answer is probably "no, I haven't noticed". But at the same time, that's not really indicative of anything. Maybe people really don't have better search results due to personalisation.
There was one time when I opened the browser to start a search and the "Interesting Items For You" widget had the answer showing already.
Spooky? For sure. Helpful? I guess.
There's an option missing in that poll: the "No, my search results got worse", which would be the option I would vote for. Google tends to give me the websites I already visit and know, but when I'm searching for something, I usually want to find something I don't know of, and Google fails to give me that. For me, usually, the results of a query to Google are better if I'm not logged in.
Good point MBN, I added that option.
The only thing I have noticed is seeing ads that are related to the location I happen to be in and I never click on the ads. So, so far it is worthless to me.
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Its really hard to say...Most of us users cannot detect incremental changes to the search results.
Another thing I notice... Most people don't notice that their search results are different, because they're just used to see their own search results. I've had several times the experience of having to explain why my results are different than those of the person I'm explaining to, for the same query (of course). So, while you're getting lot's of "I haven't noticed any difference" or "not big changes", the perception isn't necessarily the change.
Damndest thing is that until I saw this I had forgotten I had personalized it. Hasn't appeared to change a thing.
Chris: if you're interested in comparing results, you might want to use Googlonymous.