News archive

April 2007
Google rolls out 'personalised search'

Google have made some changes to the way their search results work, which may affect a website's search engine rankings.

Several weeks ago, Google started pushing personalised search by default to holders of Google accounts such as 'GMail'. In a nutshell, this can be defined as search engine results that are tailored to an individual's idiosyncratic search habits.

Google are slowly implementing widespread integration of this into standard (i.e. not paid listings - PPC) search results, which will have an impact on the results that are returned when a user searches on something.

Exactly how does search personalisation work?

In the past, Google required you to manually enable 'Search History', but no more. It now means that anyone who is signed in to any Google service (such as 'GMail', 'Analytics', amongst others) will automatically be enrolled into three additional Google Products: ''Search History', ''Personalised Search' and 'Personalised Home Page' (to be rebranded on 1st May 2007 as iGoogle).

On 1st May 2007, location-based personalised search results will be brought in by Google. This means that users who have indicated their default location to Google maps will get more personalised results based on that location. For example, someone with a southern England location who enters "sailing equipment" will see results from that geographic area.

Overall, search results will differ from user to user, dependant on their user profile and previous search history and, of course, on whether or not they are signed into a Google product. If someone doesn't want to see personalised results they can choose to sign out of their Google Account, but how many people will actually know that?

Put another way, someone who isn't signed into a Google product is likely to see different search results from someone who is signed in, and the latter will see results that are tailored to their search history. Not great news if you are a website owner, or is it?

How much might search results vary per user?

Search engine practitioners have found that results for personalised search -v- non-personalised search can vary by as much as 90%.

What does Google say?

Marissa Mayer, Google's Vice President of Search Products and User Experience, said that the personalised home page has been Google's fastest growing product, with tens of millions of users. You can read what Google has to say about personalised search here.

How quickly will personalised search catch on?

It is not known, although a 2006 'Choice Stream Personalization Survey' of 1,100 respondents revealed that over half of them would be willing to trade privacy for increasingly tailored search results.

Will there be any benefits for users and site owners?

Search personalisation can benefit users as it can help make their searches more relevant, since it bases results on their past search behaviour.

It will also benefit websites that have excellent content, with good titles and descriptions (a.k.a. meta tags) in their code. This type of website is likely to be weighted more favourably in search results than those that have poor or little content, and bad or non-existent meta tags.

In short, no change from current advice, i.e. "Content is king!", but it will simply become even more important to web site owners to make sure that all these things are in place.

What are the drawbacks for users and site owners?

There is a possibility of potentially useful websites not appearing in a search purely because they don't fit a user's previous search history. Further, if you have regular website search ranking reports these will change in order to show average rankings rather than absolute rankings.

This is boring! I just want to know what I do to make sure my website won't lose out?

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March 2007
Are you eligible for website development funding?

You may be able to claim up to £500 worth of website development funding from IT@Work Online.

IT@Work Online provides support, information, advice and funding, enabling businesses to create or develop a website, meeting the needs of their customers and business.

M35 design is a member of the Business West IT@Work Services Register, meaning that we can promote the availability of the IT@Work Voucher Fund to our clients.

Applying for website funding >>

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January 2007
Companies Act - disclosure obligation on emails and websites

From 1 January 2007 all UK companies must include certain information on documentation in their websites and email footers, or they will breach the Companies Act and risk a fine. Under this Act every business must:

1. List its company registration number
2. Place of registration
3. Registered office address

This information should also appear on order forms and in emails.

Download a guide (PDF) from Business West explaining more about your obligation as a company.