Google may let users modify search results
Google is considering allowing users of its search engine to tinker with query results by re-ranking them and commenting on them. The company has already run public tests on its search-results pages that contain up and down arrows next to listed links, as well as buttons that allow users to append comments to results.
"At this point, I can’t say what we expect from this feature; we’re just curious to see how it will be used," wrote Ben Gomes, a Google Distinguished Engineer, in the company’s official blog recently.
A screenshot of one of these test pages also shows "x" buttons next to results to apparently remove them from view, although this isn’t addressed by Gomes.
Should Google decide to incorporate these as default features, the change would be a significant step by the company in giving users the power to interact with its search-results pages.
There are a number of customisation and personalisation options that Google grants to users who open a Google account, such as keeping a log of their search and browsing activity via the Web History function, as well as bookmarking and annotating site links via the Notebook service.
However, in this test, the new functionalities apparently would be available to any user, not just those who are signed in to their Google accounts. The screenshot resembles a test described in a Google Labs Experimental Search page, although the experiment requires users to sign in to their Google accounts. It is not currently listed on the main Experimental Search page and is described as probably available for only a few weeks, so it is not clear whether it’s still available for testing.
Google has often been criticised for having a search engine that depends too much on mathematical algorithms while giving little room for users to offer feedback and contribute to the process of rating, ranking and evaluating results. These knocks have become more and more common as the popularity of Web 2.0 services has grown, since they all champion the building of user communities.
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