After releasing local search lately, Google yesterday rolled out test versions of tools for personalized searches.
1. Personalized Search: this lets users define a personal profile by selecting from several categories, including news, science, business/industries, and computers. A search through the selected category can then be fine-tuned by using an on-screen slider tool to, for instance, bring more pertinent results to the top of the list.
2. Web Alerts: Similar to the already-in-place news alerts that Google offers, Web Alerts lets users enter a search string, and will then send a daily or weekly e-mail with links to newly discovered pages.
Google’s alerts will also include findings from its news pages and Froogle shopping site.
Google also debuted other enhancements to its general search engine, news engine and shopping engine Froogle.
I think this part of a push by all search engines towards personalizing search more and more in an effort to provide users with more useful results that are personalized to their interests and location.
