SearchWiki users comment on George Bush

Google has recently released a new feature called SearchWiki that allows users to move and comment on search results. This is definitely taking personalized search to the next level.  Having been released just a few days ago, this feature has caused quite a commotion among avid web users. Are we heading towards a revolution in the search engine world, with users manually molding the rankings on the search result pages? Or is SearchWiki simply a passing fad that will be quickly forgotten? In my opinion, only time will tell.
The mission of Google’s search engine, as I understand it, is to display the most “relevant results” for the user.  Since users differ from one another, the phrase “relevant results” also differ. Each user wants to see the results he feels are relevant to him. Hypothetically then, there is an infinite amount of search results that can be relevant depending on the user.
That being the case, Google has created this feature that allows users to personalize their search with the results the users wish to see or not see.  Potentially, with millions of users rearranging their results, Google can deduct which results accumulate the best rankings; furthermore, Google does not at all eliminate the possibility of incorporating this enormously valuable knowledge base into their algorithm.
This could in fact be the end of search engine optimization (SEO) as we know it. If the users control the search results, and the same results will appear consistently for the same keywords, web site owners will have to continuously refresh the content on their site in order to stay interesting and relevant.  Optimizing pages for keywords could become obsolete. Maybe content will return to be king?! And if so, Google will have achieved one of its primary mantras.  Danny Sullivan wrote an illustrated guide to SearchWiki explaining the ins and out of this feature.

I have listed below my opinion on the pros and cons of SearchWiki:

SearchWiki Pros:

•    If natural (organic) search results strive to be natural, they should be largely influenced by the users creating collective search engine results pages (SERPS) that are decided by the users (Democracy at its finest moment).
•    SearchWiki enables the users to fully personalize their search – each user will see only the results he wishes to see at the positions he wishes to see them.
•    No more irrelevant search results! What you want is what you get!

SearchWiki Cons:

•    To go directly against the first pro bulletin point: If natural (organic) search results strive to be natural, they should not be influenced by human interaction. The results should be solely based on neutral parameters that do not involve human bias. Natural does not mean manmade, it means natural!
•    If the user controls the results he sees, how will he see new search results? Doesn’t this defy the purpose of search? Did we forget what the word “search” means? It means that you don’t know which search results you are going to get, that is the point of searching!
•    Continuing on my last point, where will the sense of exploration and curiosity go if my results are controlled and predictable? What about new results? What about the human’s innate instinct to learn and be aroused by fresh information?   Quoting a comment by GrantHammond on a SearchWiki Sphinn, “I have handcuffed my ability to learn. It’s like going to your local library and roping off all of the aisles except for your favorite reference books. Isn’t this basically saving a website into your favorites? Heck, we already have that ability!”
•    Currently, once you start using this feature, there is no legitimate way to reverse engineer your modifications.  The only remedy right now is an open source, GreeseMonkey script available with the Firefox GreaseMonkey add on. You can read more about it on The Next Web.
•    The user comments potentially include a lot of spam that take away from the user experience.

More cons can be found on Michael Gray’s very opinionated post about this topic and how Google is force feeding the users.

Check out this innovative marketing technique by David Naylor -  I guess impersonating Matt Cutts is always worth a shot

Impersonating Matt Cutts

Just before releasing my post, Danny Sullivan added a Q&A with Google on SearchWiki which provides some answers regarding the beef that SearchWiki has been getting.

In summation, here’s my take on this SearchWiki issue – I like the idea of users having the option of personalized search; however, I do believe that one should always be able to see the original organic results without having them weigh into the almighty Google search algorithm.  So is this the beginning of a search revolution? Will Google search never be the same again? Only time will tell…