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Google Unveils Search Personalization Tools

Google on Thursday unveiled new personalization tools that allow users to re-rank and edit search results. The SearchWiki tools let anyone logged into a Google account move results up or down, delete them entirely, or add personal notes through markers that appear next to each entry. The changes do not affect anyone else's search experience, although users can click a separate link to see a view that reflects changes made by other SearchWiki users.

Marissa Mayer, Google's VP of search products and user experience, tells The Wall Street Journal that the tools are particularly useful for searches that users do repeatedly. Someone who frequently searches for medical reference materials, for example, would be able to eliminate results they haven't found useful in the past.

This is Google's first foray into allowing human input to impact search results. According to Mayer, the company may yet decide to incorporate Search Wiki feedback into natural results: "some of these signals might be used to influence algorithms in the future," she said.

Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal »

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