You go to Google and enter your search term. Big Brother, the totalitarian character from George
Orwell's novel 1984, watches with detached interest. You see, to Big Brother, you are only a number - but
he'd like to know as much about you as he can. Knowing you allows Big Brother to do many things - both
good and evil.
Alright, enough of the "Big Brother" comparison - it's been done many times before (and done many
times better). However, there is an important central point to be made about personalized search.
Google is now (and has been for some time) collecting data on individual users, and they are assuming
that users will trust them with this data to "Do No Evil," as their famous slogan goes. Only time will
tell whether the trust is well-placed, or if people are willing to trust search engines with this type
of data at all.
The basic principle behind personalized search is simple. When you go to Google and type in a search
query, Google stores the data. As you return to the engine, a profile of your search habits is built
up over time. With this information, Google can understand more about your interests and serve up more
relevant search results.
For instance, let's say that you have shown an interest in the topic of sport fishing in your search
queries, while your neighbor has shown an interest in musical instruments in his search queries. Over
time, as these preferences are made clear to the engine, your personalized search results for the term
"bass" will largely be comprised of results that cover the fish while your neighbor's results for "bass"
will be comprised of results that primarily cover the musical instrument.
At present, you need to have signed up for a Google service for your results to be personalized. Such
services include Gmail, AdWords, Google Toolbar, and many others. By default, as long as you are signed
in to one of these programs, your personal search data will be collected. The term "at present" is used
because Google certainly could implement personalized search on any user of the engine, regardless of
whether he or she has a Google account. Google already places a cookie, or unique identifier, on the
machine of anyone who types in a search query on Google - it would not be hard for them to use that
information, rather than the Google account, to collect individual user data and personalize results.
It is quite possible that Google is testing the waters of personalized search with people who have opted
in to one of its services and will expand the system to all users if there is limited uproar or government
intervention.
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For search engine optimization firms, the major shift brought about by personalized search will be in
how they report on Google ranking data to clients. When collecting this data, they will have to run from
a "clean" machine - that is, one that has no Google programs or cookies on it. The baseline results that
are reported to the client will essentially be a snapshot of what a search engine user would see if they
had no Google software installed. The good news is that Google account holders who have shown an interest
in certain products and services will likely have results more favorable to the client than the baseline
results indicate since personalized search assures that their search histories will be reviewed and the
results likely skewed toward the client's industry. The bad news is that the search engine optimization
firm will be hard-pressed to demonstrate this - not to mention that the results that the client using a
Google program has on its own personal machines will almost certainly not match up with the results that
the firm is reporting (although the client machines should have better results, for the same reasons cited above).
Some people find the practice of storing information for personalized search purposes disturbing; others
find the end result to be useful (still others find themselves experiencing an odd combination of both
reactions). In defense of the engines, it is not as if they are building a dossier on individuals - again,
you are only a number to them. However, the potential for misuse of the data is fairly high.
There are many advertising firms out there already that go through the cookies on your machine to figure
out which ads will have the best effect on you. If you've ever been on a website and seen a banner ad that
is directly related to something you have been doing research on lately, it is most likely not a coincidence.
The ad platform simply browsed through the cookies on your machine to find out what topic held your interest,
and dropped in a related ad once it determined what that topic was. Search engines have been buying firms with
this technology lately; notable recent purchases include that of DoubleClick by Google and aQuantive by
Microsoft. There seems to be little doubt that your search history will be combined with existing ad-serving
technology to deliver even more relevant ads. Whether this constitutes misuse seems to be debatable - some
people seem to have no problem with it, while it makes many others fairly uneasy.
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Privacy issues that arise from personalized search are also a big question. The EU recently announced that
it is probing into how long Google stores user information (this probe was subsequently extended to include
all search engines). AOL recently committed a serious blunder when it released search data from 500,000 of
its users, and it was discovered that it was fairly easy to identify many people by the search terms that
they use (anybody ever "ego surf" - that is, type your own name into a search engine to see what comes up?
If so, you wouldn't be hard to spot). In addition, since the IP address of the computer creating the query
is also reportedly tracked, a court order forcing the engine and the ISP (Internet Service Provider) to
provide specific search data on individuals is a distinct possibility - the technology required to deliver
upon such a demand is already in use.
Unless the government intervenes, the question will probably be decided by personal preference. As it becomes
more common knowledge that Google (and other engines) store this type of data to enable personalized search,
many users will take measures to block its use.
Are the search engines that collect this data "Doing No Evil?" The answer, I believe, will depend on each
individual's definition of evil. In the meantime, don't be surprised when you type in a search query, and
the engine seems to be reading your mind. It isn't, really - it's merely parsing through your memories.
About The Author
Scott Buresh is the founder and CEO of Medium Blue, which was recently named
the number one search engine optimization
company in the world by PromotionWorld. Scott's articles have appeared in
numerous publications, including ZDNet, WebProNews, MarketingProfs, DarwinMag,
SiteProNews, SEO Today, ISEDB.com, and Search Engine Guide. He was also a
contributor to Building Your Business with Google For Dummies (Wiley, 2004).
Medium Blue is an Atlanta search engine optimization company with local and
national clients, including Boston Scientific, Cirronet, and DS Waters.
Download Medium Blue's
latest exclusive whitepaper, "Adding Search to Your Marketing Mix,"
for more insight.
