Recently, search giant Google has introduced a new feature that enables Internet users to personalize their queries, called SearchWiki. The latter allows people to alter the order of, remove or add web search results, which entails that the following time they perform the same search, they will get the customized version of the query’s results.

Cedric Dupont, Google's product manager, stated for the BBC that SearchWiki was a revolutionary tool, rendering the web to participate more in Internet users’ searches, by offering them increased control over their queries’ results, which could prompt nothing but their utter satisfaction.

Nevertheless, industry watchers believe that few people would actually re-order their results accordingly to specific criteria, editor for SearchEngineLand.com, a hub that offers information on search engine marketing and optimization, Greg Sterling having said that SearchWiki targeted only elite Internet users, eager to take part in the web search process.

Another innovative feature that the tool brings users is the possibility to write comments on the results, by logging into their Google account, comments which will afterwards be posted next to the results inside a dialog balloon and thus be available to read during the following search. Moreover, the comments will be also made public, so users are given the option to post feedback for them.

The interactivity between Google users will be further increased via a link to be featured at the bottom of the website’s page, which will enable them to see how their fellow surfers have ranked their results on the same query or which of them they have deleted.

The aforementioned Greg Sterling reckons that the larger the number of users re-ordering and refining results, the more the overall search would benefit from the ranking, since algorithm-based search, combined with users’ editorial input would render the queries’ results to improve.
Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president of search product and user experience, has stated that for the time being, SearchWiki would have no impact on the way Google ranked websites, so the search giant would not be getting a review site spin just yet. Nevertheless, Meyer added that where the future was concerned, the tool might come to influence Google’s rankings.

Statistical data has shown that approximately 40 percent of Internet users’ queries were duplicate searches, therefore the editing tool could help them remember which results they found useful and also delete the unsuited ones.

Google’s feature was released this Thursday, November 20 and it requires that English be the preferred language for search results, according to spokesman at the company Anthony House.

Rival search giant Yahoo also has a similar service it offers users, called MyWeb, which enables people to save useful results, as well as to perform their queries based on popular searches among other users they know.