The way that you Google something is about to change in a big way. This morning, Google is all over tech news headlines for good reason – things are happening at Google, and these things will impact your search life whether you like it or not. Using Google Plus, Google is now creating personalized searchers for all Google users (more on this in a bit). This is just one more way that Google makes it impossible not to use some kind of Google product without signing up for a G+ account.
So, even if you aren’t a fan of Google Plus or don’t really want to be a part of this network, it will soon be very hard not to have a G+ account. Aside from the fact that Google will certainly boast large G+ user numbers soon (seeing how most people won’t be able to avoid signing up for a G+ account), the new changes happening at Google are extremely intriguing.
A New Search
Up until this point, when you Google something, you can up with a generalized, generic, definition. Google results may include video clips, blogs, fan pages, websites, and photos depend on what you searched for. Everyone who searched for the same term can up with roughly the same results. Well, this isn’t the case any longer. Now, Google plans to provide you with search results based on your Google Plus preferences, friends, and posts.
Say, for example, you conduct a search about black cats. Google will now present you with your own customized search results that will include any posts you wrote about black cats, photos you’ve posted on G+ about cats, and any circle members you follow who have also posted about black cats. As you can see, this search is a lot more personalized. Google has told press that the new search results will appear alongside regular search results, and that this type of search can be turned off by adjusting user settings.
A Good or Bad Idea?
Few people are often right all the time, that’s just a fact of life. When someone is wrong about a topic, that topic usually winds up the subject of a Google search. Once details about a topic has been found, a person can either claim that they are right or see where they have gone wrong. Now that Google allows people to pull up information that they have already posted (right or wrong), many people will assume that they are correct all of the time. Further, providing people with the same old searching information won’t help expand one’s mind.
Then again, as mentioned, you can see both Google search results (personalized and random). In addition to providing personalized search results, Google will also make it simpler to find people (as if this is a hard task in today’s world!).
If you type someone’s name in the Google search bar, you will be given a list of Google Plus members who have the same name. Clicking on a member name will bring you to that person’s Google Plus page, so you can connect (goodbye anonymity!). Are the new Google search changes a good thing? This depends on how you look at it. On the one hand, personalized searches make things interesting, but, on the other hand, coming up with information you already know isn’t really the point of conducting a search to begin with.