That Happened!

New York - Google has introduced a new technology called SearchWiki, which will allow users to recommend the search results they have found useful or get rid of results that do not serve them.

‘SearchWiki’, defined by Google’s own blog as a way to search for “re-classification”, will be available for registered users of Google and the results are saved in the account.

The latest update of the Google search engine allows Internet users to customize searches of the results obtained in a search.

If a user likes a particular result, they can promote the website to the top of the search query.  Or, if they do not care for the website, it can also be demoted, Google explained on their official blog.

Any changes made in the search affect only searches the user performs, but ‘SearchWiki’  offers the opportunity to share knowledge with others, although this will not influence the order that gives priority to the results of a search.

Google’s search engine guru Marissa Mayer told Brad Stone of The New York Times that SearchWiki comments and re-rankings will have no effect on the Google algorithm and how it ranks sites for the general Google audience.

However, McGee said Google Product Manager Cedric Dupont didn’t “completely rule out” the possibility that user data from SearchWiki may impact regular search rankings. Now that will bear watching.

In addition to the management of the results, users may also make notes that will be shared with other users.

“With just a single click you can move the results you like to the top or add a new site,” Google’s Cedric Dupont, a product manager, and Corin Anderson, a software engineer, wrote on the company’s blog. “You can also write notes attached to a particular site and remove results that you don’t feel belong. These modifications will be shown to you every time you do the same search in the future. SearchWiki is available to signed-in Google users. We store your changes in your Google Account.”

Google says the new tool will be particularly helpful for people that search for a specific term on a regular basis.

For example, if someone is planning a vacation they may want to move up certain hotels on the search list as to jog their memory later.

However, industry insiders see one major problem with the new search tool.

“Most people are not going to engage with it and think about where the results should be - if it’s above this one or below that one,” said Greg Sterling, an editor with SearchEngineLand.com.

“This is really for a motivated or elite core of user who really wants to participate in the process.”

How about you? Do you see SearchWiki in your Google results? How do you like it so far?