Test feature shows social search may be on the way for Google

(Credit: Adrian Pike/TechCrunch)

A lucky Google user, Adrian Pike, has noticed something cool on search results: buttons to vote on links, much like Digg or StumbleUpon. He sent some screenshots over to TechCrunch.

The feature is being "bucket tested," meaning it's likely been rolled out to a handful of random Google users. As TechCrunch points out, it's not the first time that Google has experimented with voting on links.

Google has put out some official words on the test: "This experiment lets you influence your search experience by adding, moving, and removing search results. When you search for the same keywords again, you'll continue to see those changes." Users can additionally suggest changes to search results, something that Google says may be shared with other users. The explanation added that users will probably only see this feature for a few weeks before it returns to the drawing board.

There's a Google FAQ for it too, explaining that the feature is called "Edit Search Results." And blogger Justin Hileman has posted a detailed account of his experiences with it.

Learning personal search preferences could not only help make results more relevant, but could also add to Google's vast library of personal data and preferences, potentially for ad-serving purposes. It could also be applied to other areas of search, like images, news, and video, which many critics argue are tougher to index by algorithm alone.

But this is interesting for another reason: the persistent rumors that Google might buy Digg and use its technology to breathe some new life into Google News, which hasn't been growing as quickly as some of the company's other products. If Pike's screenshots are any indicator, this may mean that Google has been working to build something similar in-house instead.

Still, let's not get ahead of ourselves: right now, it looks like just a way to shape personal search results. And an experimental one at that.

This post was updated at 8:40 a.m. PT.

[webdoodle]

I wrote an article about why StumbleUpon would take over the search arena because their system does the same thing that this article says Google is testing. Why StumbleUpon is Poised to Take Over Search



StumbleUpon never fully developed the search ability, which is too bad, because now that Google is testing it on there enormous userbase, StumbleUpon may well, stumble.

[worldsnow99]

Me.dium just released a search engine that does this technology one better. Instead of being able to edit search, this engine lets you search what people are viewing at the current time. Instead of voting on a link, it shows you exactly what people have surfed most. The data is from the people and will create more relevant results for those looking for the best information.

Me.dium?s Social Search, which leverages the Yahoo! Search BOSS platform, provides an entirely new level of information on top of traditional search. Me.dium?s Social Search harnesses the activity of the crowds to let you find information that has relevance based on what people are actually surfing right now.

Me.dium?s technology lets the inherent activity of real people - not robotic crawlers - determine relevance. Me.dium?s Social Search results show what people are surfing and find interesting, right now. While other search engines base relevance on how content links across pages, Me.dium?s Social Search shows you the most popular news, reviews, pictures and videos that other people are actually looking at in relation to your search term. And as the activity of the people online changes, so do the search results.

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[flickrz]

So finally, google is going the Yahoo! search route. It has been over a year that Yahoo! has search assist (their version of social search that recommends related queries based on previous searches). The only difference in this one is that google lets you change the ranking while Yahoo! doesn't. This is not necessarily a good thing after claiming for years that our algorithms are better than what people think the rank should be.