Now you can customize your Google searches
New functions let users rank, delete and comment on search results
November 21, 2008 12:00 PM ETIDG News Service - Google Inc. has launched a search feature that lets signed-in users re-rank, delete and add comments on search results, according to a Google blog posting Thursday.
The new feature, SearchWiki, is an example of how search is becoming "increasingly dynamic, giving people tools that make search even more useful," according to Google.
Users who do the same search frequently can remove a site from the results that isn't of interest, said Google spokesman Anthony House.
Users can also add comments to a site, which will pop up every time that site is in the results. If a user searches for car sites, the user can add a comment to the site to help remember that it has a lot of interesting information on, for example, hybrid cars, according to House.
Comments are always shared with other users and signed with a person's username. Re-ranked search results, however, are only seen by the signed-in user and do not affect other people's results.
Users can further personalize search results by typing in the URL of a site they want to add to their search results for a certain topic, or move a site to the top of the search results.
There is also an option to see how other people have customized a search, which is accessed by clicking "see all notes for this SearchWiki" at the bottom of the page.
For SearchWiki to work, the user must be signed in to a Google account and English must be the preferred language, said House. Changes are stored in the user's Google account.
Users can keep track of all the changes they have made by clicking on "see all my SearchWiki notes." Users can also remove edits or comments and go back to the usual search results.
Reprinted with permission from
Story copyright 2009 International Data Group. All rights reserved.
Additional Resources



Learn the important issues you must consider before starting your next mobility initiative. Get your mobility white paper from IDC now, compliments of Sybase.
White Papers & Webcasts
Death to PST Files
Download Now
Business Process Framework Demo
Learn about Configurable Business Processes and Calculated Fields. Watch Now!
A Green Architectural Strategy That Puts IT in the Black
Levergage green computing across your data center. Read more now.
Manager Experience Demo
Go beyond self-service solutions to perform more effectively. Watch Now.
Quantifying the Business Value of VMware View
Learn why you should invest in a centralized virtual desktop.
WAN Optimization as a Managed Service: More than Network Cost Savings
View this Webcast Now!
Forrester Consulting Mobility Study: Taking Control of Enterprise Mobile Device Diversity
Download Now
Asia-Pacific Enterprise Network Solutions
Learn through this Webcast how your business can achieve reliability, performance and value in hard-to-reach locations within the Asia-Pacific region.
What IT Must Do to Support Employee-Owned BlackBerry, iPhone and Android Mobile Devices
Download Now
Mainsoft Webcast w/ Forrester Research: Drive SharePoint Adoption in Lotus Notes Shops
How can you drive mainstream user adoption of Microsoft SharePoint when your users rely on Lotus Notes?
Computerworld Reports
Disaster Recovery & Cost Savings Zone
Thousands of customers world-wide have turned to virtualization solutions from Riverbed as a way to reduce costs.

