Google Adds Promote And Remove Buttons To Search Results Options

[cre8pc]

Oh Geez!

Yesterday, Google launched SearchWiki

a way for you to customize search by re-ranking, deleting, adding, and commenting on search results. With just a single click you can move the results you like to the top or add a new site.

[cre8pc]

I'm not sure I get it...

I moved (promoted) some of my search results:



left, opened a new window and ran the same search and it now looks like this:



is this seen by only me or everybody?

[cre8pc]

Ok...

Here's the scoop...Was too busy the past few days. See what happens when you're not glued to the sidewalk?

Google SearchWiki Launches, Lets You Build Your Own Search Results Page

SEO Implications?

Google emphasizes that changes made in the SearchWiki interface will have no impact on the traditional ranking of web pages. If you put your own site in the 1st position for your primary keywords, you’re the only Google user who’ll see your site at the top of the rankings. Your site will, however, be included when users click the “See all notes for this SearchWiki” link at the bottom of the page; that link leads to another page that shows what results other users have re-ordered, removed, or added.

Still, Dupont didn’t completely rule out the possibility that user data from SearchWiki may someday impact regular search rankings. I asked what would happen if 10,000 people all added “Matt McGee’s Widget Page” to their own results for the phrase [widget]. “We’re always looking at user data as a signal,” Dupont says. And in a situation like that? “We’re not closing any doors.”

[cre8pc]

From Google's official announcemen:

The changes you make only affect your own searches. But SearchWiki also is a great way to share your insights with other searchers. You can see how the community has collectively edited the search results by clicking on the "See all notes for this SearchWiki" link.

Sooo, what's to stop someone from purposely trying to deflate rankings by feeding into these search results?

[Joshua Sciarrino]

Sooo, what's to stop someone from purposely trying to deflate rankings by feeding into these search results?

I'd say the crowd's reaction will prevent this. Like, it's much more difficult to get 10,000 people to "up vote" a page, in the USA.

I'm sure Google could look at the ip's and say 'Hmm thousands are "up-ing" this one page, from India, yet the page is in the USA, shown to mainly USA people'.

I see how this can work on a LARGE scale but..........I think this would effect the short tail more than the long tail. Long tail people tend to have a question, urge to buy, or w/e. I doubt they will waste their time on google to 'up' the answer. People are busy but I'm sure google will get significant amount of data from those that participate.

Plus, if I were Google, I'd void the first 2 weeks. Cause everyone testing the widget.

This post has been edited by Joshua Sciarrino: Nov 21 2008, 01:06 AM

[cre8pc]

I've seen Shoemoney ask people to vote up his favorite choice for contests and in mere seconds the entire thing is shot to hell and his choice wins by a landslide.

Google seriously underestimates the power of some SEO's

[Joshua Sciarrino]

Haha! Go shoemoney!!!

No, I think they understand. Taking risk is key. They know Yahoo/MSN can be a huge threat, and a new browser is something MSN is already doing with IE 8.

I'm sure just like Google Bombing, with great exposure, comes the googlers watching . So, if they see people inflate stuff because of a 'large following', that might cause them to make an addition to the algo.

Google says they like a level playing field and because of this idea, they have paved the way for many businesses to compete in tough industries. I'm sure they will maintain this creed. (Crosses fingers)

This post has been edited by Joshua Sciarrino: Nov 21 2008, 01:18 AM

[A.N.Onym]

Part of what you've seen, Kim, is from the SU toolbar. Somewhere in the options there's an option to show SU links in the SERPs.

However, I am using Opera and the buttons don't work Long live the few per cent of Opera users, who no one cares about.

[lee.n3o]

Hmmmm oh dear I can see this being abused! Personally I just see this as giving the black hatters another tool in their arsenal.... Or the spammers from certain un-named countries really abusing this.

Imagine a large company, with say a few hundred employees... Whats stopping the marketing department emailing all the employees asking them to login at work using their work email address AND at home using their personal email address and boosting the companies website above their competitors?

I like the fact Google are starting to be a little inventive, but I just don't think this is the way to do it... Look how Digg is manipulated.

Just my two pence worth...

[JohnMu]

I don't think you guys have to worry (or for that matter, hope) too much about things being propogated to other people's accounts . Seriously, no need to waste time on voting things up and down in hope of it affecting the search results in general.

John

[A.N.Onym]

Well, in that case, that'll only affect the results *and ads* that I am shown, right?

Then again, it's too good of a bite of info for G to miss. Do you speculate G won't use it in the future, John?

[JohnMu]

I think we'll look at the data to see how relevant it is... but keep in mind that we had thumbs-up/thumbs-down in the Toolbar for quite a while now and that (as far as I know) never resulted in anything that was usable for all users. At any rate, I wouldn't hope too much .

If I had to choose between spending time voting for my own sites (or organizing friends to do that) or spending time improving my sites, I think the answer would be pretty clear .

John

[EGOL]

Google can say that they will not use that data but most people don't read what google says. So they will be out hammering those buttons and paying others to do it.

I think that there will be a lot of chuckles in the GooglePlex about what goes on with those buttons.

[bwelford]

The proportion who will use such buttons will be incredibly small and that group will be very different from the average user. As data it is an incredibly bad sample from which to draw inferences about how the average person out there might rate that web page.

If you think the Alexa Toolbar gives you skewed data because of the unrepresentative group who have decided to install the Toolbar, this will be worse by an order of magnitude or worse.

[dazzlindonna]

My thoughts:

1. Google probably won't use the data in any meaningful way because of the very reasons everyone else already mentioned.
2. People in our industry will go crazy clicking the up buttons hoping that MAYBE it will help their sites, and clicking the down buttons hoping that MAYBE it will hurt their competitors.
3. It really will be useful to those people who use it for what it was meant to be used for.
4. It won't be used by many people once the newness wears off.
5. Based on all of that, I think it's mostly a non-issue.

[jonbey]

I took a look, and will not be clicking any buttons! I generally check Google to see how my sites fare - if I vote for them, or down vote the competition, then I will not know what is really going on (if I am logged in, which I invariably am).

I have added one comment to one of my pages, just to see if there is any noticable change. But that is it for now for me!

[AbleReach]

2. People in our industry will go crazy clicking the up buttons hoping that MAYBE it will help their sites, and clicking the down buttons hoping that MAYBE it will hurt their competitors.

Do you think that the end result is that Google will have more insight on who is likely to manipulate or abuse?

To me, for those users, this smells a bit like a nanny cam.

[dazzlindonna]

Do you think that the end result is that Google will have more insight on who is likely to manipulate or abuse?

Maybe, but I doubt it would be really worth their time to track. But maybe...

[DrPete]

Ignoring the abuse aspect for a second (not that it's not important), what's the up-side? Is this just so I can make my SERPs look the way I want so they're easier to go back to later? This is basically for people who navigate entirely through Google, probably not a practice that we should be encouraging.

[tambre]

The changes you make only affect your own searches. But SearchWiki also is a great way to share your insights with other searchers. You can see how the community has collectively edited the search results by clicking on the "See all notes for this SearchWiki" link.

Sooo, what's to stop someone from purposely trying to deflate rankings by feeding into these search results?

from what i'm reading it appears like SearchWiki is rolled into Personalized Results. so, from what i understand i'll only be able to GPromote or GDemote the results that show in my results with no adverse affects to the non-personalized serps?
kinda sounds like Digg model, except they're going a round about way to show the collective results.

i look forward to see how this is gonna play out and can't wait to learn more about it and play with it.

This post has been edited by tambre: Nov 21 2008, 11:32 AM