On Wednesday, Michael Arrington reported with TechCrunch that Google’s latest feature, Search Wiki, will most likely be able to be “turned off” in the near future.
Arrington’s brief but ground-breaking post came after he spoke with Google’s Vice President of Search Product and User Experience, Marissa Mayer, at the Le Web conference in Paris.
After explaining his discontent with Google’s recently released feature, Search Wiki, the ball seemed to be in Mayer’s court to defend or at least justify the tool. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Search Wiki, it’s a new aspect of Google search results… here’s a quick overview:
- Search for a keyword or keyword phrase
- See the typical Google SERP for that query
- (But now) have the ability to:
- Remove what YOU deem irrelevant results
- Bump superior results to the top of the page
- Leave text comments on each link to remind of you why you like or dislike that website
- View other users’ comments, etc.
In this regard, there are many elements about Search Wiki that lend themselves to the concept of “peer-editing…” but peer-editing universal search results? Not quite yet… your personal rankings will only affect your personal SERPs and only when you are logged into your Google account.
While Mayer maintained that Search Wiki “has a minimal visual impact and that many users are finding it useful to move search results around on the page,” Arrington responded with his discontent over the fact that Google Search Wiki lacks an integral opt-out feature.
Mayer allegedly responded that “a toggle button to allow users to turn the feature off” will be available by the first quarter of the fiscal year. Keep an eye on your Google SERPs over the next few weeks if you're interested in seeing this story unfold in real time!
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