Google Rolls Out Test of Personalized Search Tool Reuters Internet Report
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=582&e=1&u=/nm/20050420/wr_nm/tech_google_dc
SAN FRANCISCO - Google Inc. on Wednesday debuted a test service called My Search History that analysts said is a move closer to personalized search, which is widely considered the Holy Grail for the Web search leader and its rivals.
Google, Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO - news) and Ask Jeeves Inc. (Nasdaq:ASKJ - news) are among the companies working to better deliver the information Web searchers want. For example the word "polish" is likely to mean something much different to an antiques dealer and a student of world languages.
Providing more refined answers to consumers has the added benefit of enabling advertisers to better target their Web search ads, which drive almost all of the revenue at Google and about half at Yahoo.
The new Google service, available starting Wednesday on Google Labs, tracks every search users have done when they are signed on to My Search History and it also lets them search all the pages they've found using Google.com's search engine.
Users will be able to review the full text of any Web page they clicked on from a Google search results page. They also have the option to disable the service or remove particular searches from their history.
All of the information will be stored on Google's servers -- something analysts said is all but certain to rankle privacy advocates -- which will allow users to view their search history regardless of where they are when they sign on.
Marissa Mayer, Google's director of consumer Web products, said the service allows people to use what they've searched in the past to build more intelligent searches.
Google says it is not placing ads in the service for now, nor does it have immediate plans to use information culled from the service for advertising products.
"The implications on the consumer side are obvious -- better search," said Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li, who predicted that My Search History would be most appealing to students, researchers and search aficionados.
"On the advertising side, marketers would spend substantially more if they could target ads to users based on their past search history," said Li.
Yahoo and Ask Jeeves, which has agreed to be purchased by Barry Diller's Web conglomerate IAC/InterActiveCorp (Nasdaq:IACI - news), have each introduced features that enable users to track past searches and build a personal search history. But analysts said those tools are more difficult to use.
People who want to use My Search History must register at https://www.google.com/accounts/ and maintain an active account.
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