Google launched their web history search mechanism in mid-April of this year. Google has a great desire to stay on top of the search engine market and in so doing continue to garner most of the financial goodies. Toward that end Google is making the future of search more personalized than ever before.
First – what was once Search History has now been renamed Web History to more accurately describe the function. Web history allows you to find a web page that you know you’ve visited but can’t remember where it was. You don’t have to rely on the history function of your browser but instead now have an ‘account’ at Google that tracks your visits.
In order to activate Web History you’ll need a Google account and the Toolbar with PageRank activated. When you sign up for a Google account several things are automatically activated – including iGoogle, Web history, Google Calendar, Google Spreadsheets and Google Alerts. The Toolbar, as part of your browser, helps Google to associate the pages you visit with your Google account.
Your Web History is stored on the Google servers so that if you sign in on any computer, anywhere, you have access to your previous web pages. Your Web History is accessible only to people who have your user name and password.
Interestingly this Web History will change the search results you see over time. Google believes in personalized searches and they are evaluating your searches and the pages you visit so they can deliver a more personalized environment to you.
In an article published on May 25, 2007 Peter Fleishcher, Google’s Global Privacy Counsel, expanded on the question of invasion of privacy as Google gathers information about your previous web travels in an attempt to make your searches better. Google GFE Trainer skills exam answers the privacy issue by allowing people to sign up using either their own name or a fictitious name, as well as allowing users to enable or disable the function of Web History.
Those who allow Web History believe that the Google algorithms are best able to determine which sites most equal their desired return. Unfortunately sometimes even the searcher isn’t aware of what they are looking for and using Web History only makes for a more narrow search.
Although Web History has several benefits it isn’t without negative results. Users must remember to sign out of their accounts if they wish to receive broader search results. Other users may want to consider whether big brother Google is delivering enough content to give up that bit of privacy.
Internet Marketers will want to watch this carefully since as Web History is enabled it may make reaching your target market more difficult – or it may increase the number of tightly targeted customers who actually land on your pages. Only time, new algorithms and tweaked SEO will tell.
