Google – Going Social With Search Wiki?
It appears that way. Who would have thought?
If you have done a search on Google while being logged into one of its services (Gmail, Webmaster Tools, Analytics, etc.), you will have seen the following buttons next to your search results
So what do these mean? The up arrow basically means a vote for a site and the X is basically a vote against it. Much like a social bookmarking service you can vote up links that you would like to see for certain results and remove them from certain results.
Now before you go getting all excited thinking you can completely remove a site from the index, this is not possible. You are the one who will not see it when you do a search for it. If it's not enough to rearrange the search results to your liking, you can also now leave comments about pages that show in the results. Others will be able to see whether or not you liked a page.
Of course, Google is saying this will have no bearing on their ranking system. I do not know that I believe that, I guess only time will tell. You can read more about it in the great post I found below.
http://www.webmonkey.com/blog/Customize_Your_Search_Results_Using_Google_s_New__SearchWiki_
In a lot of ways, I can see this tying into what Mark Hansen wrote in his post titled "SEO Just got Flipped on its Head... and it Died!" where he goes into some detail about how Google Search Results will be tailored toward the user.
All of this combined is setting up for what appears to be a very interesting scenario in 2009. I almost think Google is going to keep messing with things until they shoot themselves in the foot. Just like eBay has.
Have you tried to do a search for something on eBay lately? Whoever developed the concept for their new search system should be fired and have their college degree yanked. Seriously, this person needs to go stand behind the counter at McDonald's and flip cheeseburgers for a living. (Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm just saying....)
The average internet user cannot find what they are looking for on eBay now without doing a very specific search. I know because I've heard this complaint a hundred times. Even my mother, who has been an avid eBay buyer since around the year 2000 absolutely hates it and does not shop on there near as often. Buyers need sites like ours now more than ever. eBay is losing buyers in droves because of it and it looks like Google may be headed in the same direction. So who do you favor? Yahoo or MSN?
What I will never understand is when a business has a successful model, why do they have to keep changing it to make it "better?" (When the reality is the exact opposite)
Another example is Microsoft. I do not know of a soul who didn't love XP. Then along came Vista. What a nightmare. Don't get me wrong, I've gotten used to it, but I still don't like it. I never will. It's no wonder people are flocking to Mac in droves.
History has proven it time and again. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. What are your thoughts?
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MarbleHost.com (1 comments.) | Nov 25, 2008 | Reply
Hi,
i think google is more social with search wiki then any other search engine. And this is why most of the internet users are with google.com.
Melissa | Nov 25, 2008 | Reply
The social aspect of it is not something I plan to use. I do not see the sense in wasting my time commenting on pages in a search engine, nor voting those sites up and down. When I go to a search engine, I’m looking for something or doing research. I’m not there to network, comment, vote, etc. There are already hundreds of sites for that.
Here’s the deal. If you do a particular search and there are ten pages you like and you click the “promote” button, all ten of those results are on the first page every time you do a search for that term (if you’re logged into Google, that is).
Sure, you like those sites, but what if you’re like 90% of most users and never click beyond the first page of results? You could easily be missing out on a better site if you’ve “bookmarked” ten or more pages.
I seriously do not see the method to the madness in Google making this move. Most users won’t even know how to use it or take the time to learn. And some will use it all wrong from the get go.
I guess what I’m not understanding is why would a search engine need or want to make a move like this? Of course they are tracking your “votes” and activity on their site. Although they say they are not going to use the results to rank sites in the future, I’d bet my last dollar that’s exactly what they are going to do with the data.
If they do and this becomes known, you will see an uproar on the internet. Not to mention people will do everything they can to game the system. I can already imagine what the blackhatters are thinking. If Google thinks they can outsmart them with this, let me tell you, you’ll see more spam in their engine than ever.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not anti-Google. I just do not see the point.
Web Design Dubai (1 comments.) | Feb 3, 2009 | Reply
Hi, This post is really nice.. Thank you for the nice stuff..
That is really of no sense of clicking promote button..
Hope you will continue to sharing such great information…
Eren from organize kids rooms (2 comments.) | Feb 20, 2009 | Reply
Hi Melissa,
I completely agree with you . In an effort to game the spammers they end up throwing out the baby with the bathwater. They have put up many filters and serious business owners end up hurt.
By the way whoever thought up Vista forgot to verify a few things- like how much memory it hogs up and also that almost all the games that the kids play are not compatible with Vista. I know because I have 3 boys and none of their games work with Windows Vista.
Thanks again for the heads up,
Eren
Erens last blog post..Wedding cakes with waterfalls – wedding cake photos give you awesome ideas for your ideal cake
Melissa | Feb 22, 2009 | Reply
Exactly. And I’m not very happy with Vista either. Have gotten used to it, but I still don’t like it.
Crysto from Music Production company Australia (1 comments.) | Feb 26, 2009 | Reply
Thanks for providing this information and really it is very helpful.
Marry from Furnished Apartments Manhattan (1 comments.) | Feb 27, 2009 | Reply
Really it is nice post and thanks for sharing it.
manoj from steel buildings (1 comments.) | Apr 23, 2009 | Reply
The information provided by you is very useful for me thanks for sharing it.
Ruri from Free article directory (8 comments.) | Aug 12, 2009 | Reply
Yeah I agree with you. I think Google will use this vote in the future. Google announce that this vote system influence, then there are so many spam will come.
Tom Saine from Abnehmen (1 comments.) | Aug 29, 2009 | Reply
I bet this will be a new hype for spammers to find possibilities to manipulate the index….Great article, I totally agree.
50X-FIGHT BOREDOM! FREE GAMES! (2 comments.) | Dec 19, 2009 | Reply
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Daryl Urbanek (1 comments.) | Jan 9, 2011 | Reply
That was a wonderful post. I do not agree with each single thing that you said but still great nonetheless. On a side note, I am so glad that the NFL is back. It seems like I been patiently waiting forever. This has to be my favorite time of the year. Sorry, I’m rambling. lol