Google unveils personalised search beta

Personalised Search service offers tailored results to the user

Google has launched a beta version of its newly developed Personalised Search service, allowing the search engine to tailor results to the user.

Google said that a fishing enthusiast, for example, would now get different results than a musician when entering the word 'bass' as a search query.

The service builds on the My Search History feature launched as a beta in April. The service 'remembers' past searches, allowing users to quickly retrieve a recently visited page.

Over time the collection of past searches allows Google to learn about a user's interests and deploy that information to deliver better search results, according to the company.

"This is a major step forward in the personalisation space, and Google masterfully laid the groundwork with My Search History," Forrester Research analyst Charlene Li said on her blog. 

To further increase the relevancy of search results, Li suggested that Google could in the future include RSS feeds to which users would subscribe, as well as bookmarked sites to get an idea of their interests.

The search engine could also look at the time lapse between when a user clicks on a search result and closes the page. This would allow the service to assess whether a result has been successful by tracking the length of time that a user spends on the page.

To deal with privacy concerns, Google requires users to sign in before they can use the service. They can also delete past searches from the search engine's memory or pause the recording feature.

Web users who currently subscribe to Gmail, Google Groups, Google Alerts or Froogle Shopping Lists can activate the feature by using their existing log-in and password.

New users can sign up for the beta service here.