Personalized Search Graduates from Google Labs

Announcement
November 10, 2005

We’re happy to announce that today Google Personalized Search graduated from Labs and is ready for prime time. As part of our continued efforts to improve the quality of search results, Personalized Search will now be offered to all users when they create a new Google Account.

Personalized Search is an improvement to Google search that orders results based on previous queries. Learning from the history of searches and search results that have been clicked on, Personalized Search brings certain results closer to the top when it’s clear they’re most relevant to the user. For example, a user who recently searched on iPod accessories who enters a query on [apple] would be shown results related to the computer manufacturer before those related to fruit.

In addition to coming off Labs, Personalized Search also now includes several new features, such as:

  • Bookmarks & Searchable Labels: Users can now create bookmarks and add searchable labels and notes to any item in their search history to help organize their information. Since these are created through a Google Account, this information is accessible from any computer by signing in to their account.
  • Remove Results: This new feature offers users greater control over search results by enabling them to remove unwanted results from future searches. Users can remove a single page or an entire site, for one search or all future searches.
  • International Expansion: Personalized Search is now available in 39 domains, in 12 languages. The Personalized Homepage is also now available in 17 domains, in 12 languages.

In addition to enhancing product functionality, we continue to take proactive steps to protect user privacy and give users control of their personal data. Expanding on our existing options for easily pausing the service or removing items from search history, we are also adding increased password protection for stronger security.

For more information on Personalized Search, please visit www.google.com/psearch.

Labels: ,