[LINK] Google going for 'gold'

[Jan Whitaker]

[Note the mention of privacy comes at the very end of the article.]


Google gets more personal with search results




2:03 PM, Jan 10, 2012

http://www.9news.com/news/article/241357/188/Google-gets-more-personal-with-search-results-

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Google is sifting through the photos and 
commentary on its blossoming social network so its Internet search 
results can include more personal information.

The additional personal touches that began to roll out Tuesday mark 
another step toward one of Google's most ambitious goals. The 
Internet search leader eventually hopes to know enough about each of 
its users so it can tailor its results to fit the unique interests of 
each person looking for something.

Different people should start seeing different search results more 
frequently now that Google Inc. is importing content from its 
6-month-old Plus service, a product that the company introduced in an 
attempt to counter the popularity of Facebook's online hangout and 
Twitter's short-messaging hub. Google's main search results page also 
will start highlighting more content from an older online photo 
service called Picasa.

Facebook and Twitter pose a threat to Google because they don't allow 
Google's search engine to log the avalanche of photos, links and 
observations tumbling through those services. That's troublesome to 
Google because its search engine could become less useful if its 
system can't analyze what people are signaling is important to them 
so those preferences can be factoring into the results.

Google is tackling that challenge with an addition to its results 
called "Search, plus Your World."

The feature will be automatically turned on beginning Tuesday for all 
English-language searches made by users logged into Google. Turning 
off the personal results permanently will require changing a setting 
in Google's personal preferences. The personal results can also be 
excluded on a search-by-search basis by clicking on an icon of the 
globe on the results page (the personal results will be denoted by a 
button featuring a human's silhouette).

If the new formula works as Google expects, the search results will 
include pertinent information culled from the requestor's Plus 
account. For instance, a query about the San Francisco 49ers might 
include links and comments made about the football team by other 
people in one of the social circles on the user's Plus account. A 
search request that includes the name of a dog owned by the user or a 
friend might turn up photos of the pet that have been posted on Plus 
and Picasa.

"This is going to open up a whole new avenue in search," said Ben 
Gomes, a Google fellow.

Google isn't the first to do this. Microsoft Corp.'s Bing search 
engine has been mining some of the preferences and other information 
shared on Facebook since May. But Google's emphasis on more personal 
results figures to attract more attention because its search engine 
is so dominant. It handles about two-thirds of the Internet search 
requests made in the U.S. while Bing processes less than one-third, 
including the activity that it comes through a partnership with Yahoo Inc.

Facebook, though, has greater insights into personal tastes. That's 
because its nearly 8-year-old social network boasts more than 800 
million users who share more than 1.5 billion photos alone each week. 
In October, Google said Plus had more than 40 million users. Google 
hasn't updated the information since then, although some external 
studies have estimated Plus began the new year with 60 million to 70 
million users.

Some of Google's changes may help prod more people into joining Plus.

As part of Tuesday's expansion, the profile pictures of Plus 
accountholders will appear in the drop-down suggestions on Google's 
search box. So when typing in "Mary," you may see those named Mary in 
your circle along with those Google believes you'd find interesting.

In another twist, searches on general topics such as "music" and 
"sports," will generate suggestions on people, companies and places 
that have Plus accounts.

While Google is hoping the addition of more personal results will 
make its search engine even more useful, the changes also could spook 
some people as they realize how much information is being compiled 
about them. Google tried to minimize privacy concerns by recently 
switching to technology that encrypts all its search results to 
protect the information from slipping out.

Previous privacy missteps by both Google and Facebook resulted in 
both companies entering into settlements with the U.S. Federal Trade 
Commission. The FTC agreements require Google and Facebook to submit 
to external audits of their privacy practices every other year.



Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or 
sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

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