Personalized search is something Google came up with recently and this is hitting people in so many directions. Some website owners are annoyed, while some are happy.
So what Google’s personalized search has done?
Search is personalized to a point where no two people will see the same search engine results page (SERP) for a given search (keyword).
And how does Google do this? Google personalized search is due to a lot of parameters but mostly based on your connection with Google and connection with others in social media.
Let me illustrate with an example. Below is the screenshot of the SERP I got when I search for “Google plus pages” with Google personalized search enabled (of course)
Given that I am friends with people like Kim and Josh and we share things among us, plus one, interact etc., what they share appears in my search results. That is, they have influenced my search results.
Now I bet you won’t see the same page and the same results if you search for the same term. You can go ahead and try it now, I’ll wait right here!
OK so I’m sure you realized that this is the effect of personalized search.
How does Google know that its you who is searching for something (and that its not me), and tailors the search results and displays to you?
Google knows you (hope that doesn’t scare you, lol) from your association with Google itself. I am sure that most of us would be logged in to Gmail or Google plus while browsing (even if you have logged in once and then closed that tab). This makes your search secured (in logged in mode) as well.
Have you noticed the strip that appears on top of your search page?
This confirms that you are logged in to Google; any of its services including, Gmail, Google plus, Orkut, or if you’re using Google Docs, Maps, Adsense, Adwords anything else, basically. And THIS affects your search.
Why Google personalized search is both good and bad?
It is good because, Google tailors the search results for you, based on your interests (Google learns this from your history of searches and using the web in general).
For instance if you make your online purchases mostly with Amazon.com then any product search like searching for a kettle will get you results mostly from Amazon’s pages.
If you are a regular visitor of a particular website and if you share a lot of its stuff through tweeting, sharing on Facebook, sharing on Google plus etc. then if you search for a term for which that website is relevant, you will certainly get that website’s page on your results.
If you are friends with a blogger who is also interested in sharing blogging tips kinda stuff, then your search on “blogging tips” will get pages shared by your friend.
So, it is about your likes, your preferences and those of your friends with whom you are connected. That makes sense!
But what about SEO?
This is where personalized search becomes bad! Bloggers and website owners are spending a lot of time (and money) to get their sites ranked on the first page (preferably on #1 position) on Google.
But due to Google personalized search, the term “ranking” has become relative. Ranking on the first page – according to me or you? That’s the question!
Black box in Analytics
Here’s another thing to worry about! There is an area on Google Analytics which I will call a black box. Look at the picture below
I am trying to look at the keywords that got me traffic in the past X number of days and on the top position what I got is “(not provided)” – a secret, something I would never know.
But that’s not what all bloggers and website owners would like/expect. They want to know what keywords got them traffic, but Google won’t reveal those.
Of course, you can find out the top keywords that get you traffic either using Sem Rush or Market Samurai, but still!
Who decides my visibility with personalized search?
Its YOU. That’s some good news. Now that Google has given the control to you (in some sense via personalized search), how can you decide your visibility in SERPs? Here are some tips to go with -
1. Produce quality content – the type of content that people love to share around the web; the type of content that goes viral. Such content will naturally get links, likes, shares, tweets, plus ones, stumbles, what not! The more you get shared the more chances are that you are influencing the SERPs of more people (friends and friends’ friends and so on).
2. Get connected – Social media is the new marketing avenue and make the most out of it. Make genuine connections (not to spam their space, I mean) and network with people. Help them out while you are there. Interact and clarify their questions. Show your expertise. The more people you are connected with, the more will be your influence on their SERPs!
3. Use Commentluv Premium – Not to mention, this plugin makes the most part of the story easy! With features like social enticements, Twitterlink, Keywordname etc. not only it attracts a lot of people to your blog, but entices those people to share your content as well. That’s an easy way to go viral with the traffic you get. To know more about the features of the plugin, read these posts:
Commentluv Premium Plugin Review: A Complete Insight On The Features
Premium Commentluv Plugin: Should You Buy It?
4. Market your content – Content creation is not enough. You need to let people know about it. The more people know about your content, chances are that it will be shared and talked about a lot (if its good enough). To know more about content marketing head over to this page.
5. Know about the importance of Author Markups and set that right.
What if I don’t like Google personalized search!
Well you can turn personalized search off if you don’t want Google to tailor your searches based on your history and usage in any of the following ways:
1. If you’re using Google chrome you can choose the “Incognito window”. If you use Firefox, you can go for “Tools” -> “Start Private Browsing”.
2. Logout of all Google services before you do a search. Make sure you clear your browser cookies.
3. While you’re signed in at any of Google’s services, click on the settings (the gear like icon) on the top right of the page and choose Web History. Once you’re there click “Disable customization”.
4. For Firefox there’s an extension called Google global which has an option to disable personalized searches. This option is cool if you don’t want to mess up with your Google history. The plugin also has an option to view how the search results will be in other countries.
These are for you own use, but you can’t guarantee that a person will disable Google personalized search while doing searches. The chances are extremely less.
Google personalized search takeaway
The way search engines work is continuously changing; Google personalized search is one such aspect. This is both good and bad as I just explained.
The best part about personalized search is that black hat techniques will fail (and will get seriously hit) due to these changes. Since a particular algorithm is not going to work in the long run and the algorithms change from people to people, ranking is now a relative term.
It goes that producing quality content is not enough but you need to market your content smart enough to get people to share your content and make it go viral.
As always I would love to know your thoughts on Google personalized search.
If you found this post useful, don’t forget to share with your friends!
Article by JaneSheeba
+Jane is the founder of Problogging Success. She is an expert blogger, consultant, freelance writer and blog designer. Don't forget to get your hands on two FREE Ebooks she offers.
Jane has written 257 awesome posts for Problogging Success.
When my blog was under Jane’s watch, everything was under control.
{ 39 comments… read them below or add one }
Google’s personalized search is really great … No doubt google knows almost everything about its users .. Hats off
Glad that you like personalized search Salman, not many will like it though!
Connection is absolutely a key for one’s success. The more connections you have, the higher the chance for you to be known by others. But of course, you need to learn how to consider first your content. Make sure that it is really that appealing to attract more readers. That’s precisely the reason why they are sharing contents to others within their networks too.
Audrey that’s right! And it is good that Google is encouraging people to connect more by introducing personalized search!
Google Personalized Search is one of the advance feature of Google and this all is because all of Google Algorithms supports artificial intelligence and data mining.
You’re right Azhar. Google learns a lot from the way we use the web and tailors the results for us
As predicted, I have a totally different list of search results. In my top ten results I get, oh look, Jane Sheeba’s post on How To Create A Page On Google+. lol
Personally, I don’t care for the personalized search from Google but we, as bloggers, have to roll with the changes. When searching on a personal level, I’d prefer access to new and fresh content that’s most relevant to what I’m looking for, not what big G thinks I should see based on my social connections.
You have to admire Google and their quest to rule the world. They have, in a matter of months, effectively made Google+ mandatory for all online business.
Great topic Jane, and very important.
Haha… so we both are well connected. Yes ultimately Google and Google plus are becoming mandatory entities for surviving in any kinda online business!
This method is really the most amazing feature of Google search. Thank you Miss Jane for this one… I will be more eager in promoting my contents.
The more you connect with people, the easier it will be for you to promote your content!
Thanks for the tip Miss Jane
I was wondering about that (Not Provided) and now I know. Good stuff! I’ll be back to learn some more.
Yes Kevin, I was wondering about that as well when I first saw them. Even now, I’m not so happy about that bit
Another great idea by G.. This could help users everywhere!
Hi Jane,
The idea of getting search results in tune with my interests sounds good to me. But when I do research for new posts, I don’t want to be limited to sources I know about already. So, it isn’t always good.
Thanks,
Yes Bob this is a place where I get somehow frustrated too. Indeed I don’t want to look at the results from a small number of people with whom I am already well connected! I need fresh results, if so I need to go to Incognito window or Firefox’s anonymous browsing!
this one thing is going to make deliberate search engine optimization much more difficult. i work in a tiny niche, so it’s really not too bad, but some people are really going to start having a hard time getting traffic. i’m not sure whether this is a good thing or a bad thing. what i’m most concerned with now is just being able to legitimately check my work.
i’d suppose there’s always proxies for that.
this is definitely going to make reverse engineering the competition’s backlinks a little trickier than blekko.
It will greatly help bloggers to get more traffic particularly if you have lots of friends in your google circle.
Hi Jane, I personally like the personalized search and see it as a good thing. It means people need to start working harder and producing great content (instead of having a wad of cash to spend on their SEO).
We are taught that people buy from those they like and trust so by connecting more, commenting, networking etc is a great way to get found online now.
I too love Comment Luv Premium btw:)
Hi Jane, I just get to know about personalized research today and it is based on the connectivity. It means that your social connectivity online influences the search results. Interesting and you explains it in details. Thanks!
Seriously Google is everything. I do feel it is kinda monopolizing everything right now.
Good point, I had not thought about it that way! We can only hope they won’t do that. Unfortunately, it’s something we just don’t have any control over. In addition, I don’t want you to think Iv’e run off due to a lack of Adsense earnings or frustration, but I have to go out of town for the day. Thanks a lot..
I’m with you as far as using Market Samurai for mine and my clients results. I’ve been using it for a couple of years now and love the software. I personally dislike having my results skewed by my location/personal surfing habits etc. since I’m usually more interested in ACTUAL ranking results for the pages I visit whether they be for my sites or my competitors sites. I’m sure though for the majority of online users (without their own websites) personalized search is a good thing!
Warren, ACTUAL ranking matters most. But what if no one is looking at the actual ranking? What if everyone is using personalized search? We need to work on that as well!
Great article Jane. I always learn from you.
Am really pleased that searches are now personalized. Now the content you produce and how well you promote it will be the most important factors. It was really wrong that people were writing for search engines and hence had the upper hand over more competent people.
Hi Jane,
I think that overall the new changes are good, especially from the perspective of the searcher.
Thanks for the great explanation!
Stacy
Hi Jane
I have been wondering what google personalize search is. Now I know that your Post!
thanks for sharing Jane!
Hi Jane,
I come to your site knowing that whatever you have to say, you know it.
I have discovered the Personalized Search too and tell you the truth, I dont like it. It deceived me into thinkin that I was in the first page sooner than I actually was.
But since I learnt about it, I have made adjustments.
I actually didnt know I could turn the customizations off, I just go ahead and view the unbiased ranking on another laptop.
Thanks for sharing
Tosin
Fully understand what the personalized search is all about after reading this article. Great job.
The best thing about it is that you can turn it off. I don’t know about other people, but i want my results to be relevant in an authority way, if you get what i mean. If i look for Kindle i want the best result to show up, no the eBay one just because i use eBay more often that other websites. The best general result.
Hats off, Google’s personalized search is really great. Google knows many things when we visited the page last time and so on.
It is good because, Google tailors the search results for you, based on your interests Google learns this from your history of searches and using the web in general.
Thanks a lot for sharing this useful tool..Very useful I like reading on it..Hope you can post more..
Social media has greatly affected how search engines ranking and see the relevance of a website! Then, we have to greatly increase our social media campaign.
Google is always changing the was people search on the internet and how to get ranked
Quite frankly, I also haven’t found Google’s personalized Search very helpful. There are times I’ve tried to search for some info and all I get are results from websites I’ve visited in the past.
It’s often to me, whenever I search for a specific term. Google shows, that ______ shared this on Google+. I knew, that it’s because we’re logged in, and other people cannot have the chance to see over here… OF COURSE, it’s not possible…
Whatever Google does, I’m always agreed because… Coz Google does what’s good for it’s users’ experience, what’s better for those who’re HONEST. Since, there’s a great no. of black hat technique webmasters, so it’s a bit hard for Google to blacklist “targeted”, despite of the fact it’s not hard to blacklist but hard to find the appropriate ones, which deserve a BAN.
Nice post Ms. Jane..
now this time google is very very smart
Wow! I had no idea about personalize searches. thanks for letting us know!