Google has applied for a patent that, at face value, looks as if they are thinking of radically altering the way they rank websites in the general organic search results.
Titled, Personalization of placed content ordering in search results, the patent outlines a method for producing search engine results based on individual user profiles. This patent shouldn’t be confused with another recently filed which appears to aim at paid-placement rankings, “Determining ad targeting information and/or ad creative information using past search queries“.
Google has spent the past five years studying what its users do and where they go. Those who use the Google toolbar, desktop search appliance, wi-fi connections and other membership-based and general Google products have been feeding detailed information to the search giant.
In a review at Search Engine Journal, editor Loren Baker has coined the term “Profile Rank” noting, “new Profile Rank is based upon user profiles built by tracking a users web habits in and outside of Google Search, even if the user has not opted in to be served personalized results or is a registered Google Account member : Wide Spread Personalization to all users .”
Loren’s piece offers a detailed examination of the most interesting items found in the Google patent application, which like all patent documents is a long and very dry read.
Personalization of search results might not be as great a challenge to the search engine optimization community as many SEOs think. On the contrary, it should provide a rich pool of opportunities for SEO firms that follow search engine guidelines to the letter. As a non-tech friend pointed out to me last night, regardless of the fact that she and I will see slightly different results in the future, there are just as many or more web surfers as there were before. In other words, our clients might not be losing a universal audience but instead be gaining a more interested one. As long as SEOs are making sites easier for spiders (and live-visitors) to access and read, our clients should continue to be pleased with results.
Jim Hedger is the SEO Manager of StepForth Search Engine Placement Inc. Based in Victoria, BC, Canada, StepForth is the result of the consolidation of BraveArt Website Management, Promotion Experts, and Phoenix Creative Works, and has provided professional search engine placement and management services since 1997. http://www.stepforth.com/ Tel – 250-385-1190 Toll Free – 877-385-5526 Fax – 250-385-1198
