Digg Your Google Search Results
Tonight I was performing a simple Google search, after typing in my query and clicking enter I noticed something a little odd beside my search results. An up arrow, a down arrow and a comment bubble. My first though was what the hell, and my second thought was what Firefox extension did I install today that would do this to my search results? The answer was none and instead I was seeing this because I was logged into my Google account and Google has rolled out their SearchWiki. Over at the the Official Google Blog they explain the SearchWiki feature as such:
With just a single click you can move the results you like to the top or add a new site. You can also write notes attached to a particular site and remove results that you don’t feel belong. These modifications will be shown to you every time you do the same search in the future.
They also go on to state in bold that the changes you make only affect your own searches. I wonder how long it will be until the entire Google search uses a voting system like this?
Google has an incredibly sophisticated algorithm for ranking pages and those ages that is feels are most relevant to the search query are placed at the top or the rankings. The problem with this model is that because it is a computer algorithm it can and is manipulated on a daily basis leaving the user with sub-par results and frustration many times.
Having Google now implement a social collective human search algorithm means that in the future spam sites that have reached the top of the results through manipulation will no longer be tolerated and will be voted down by the searchers improving search results for the community as a whole.
As it stands today Google has effectively changed the world of search engine optimization as we know it. If and more importantly when Googles WikiSearch gets rolled into the entire search results, simply gathering the most keyword rich links will no longer guarantee users of ranking their websites in the top results.
