Google “Queryless Search” and Potential StumbleUpon Acquistion
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Written By Kate Zimmermann | April 18, 2007 | Share This
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Search Engine Land reports that Google has two new recommendation features: The first, a suite of new tabs for the personalized homepage, uses search history to offer recommended news, searches, videos, pages, groups and gadgets; The second is a button that can be added to the Google Toolbar called “Picks for You.”
These new services are both part of Google’s attempt to produce “queryless search.” From the Official Google Blog,
“You already know that search is at the core of everything we do: we want to deliver useful and relevant information every time you do a search. But what about when you don’t have a query in mind, or if you just don’t feel like typing in a query? Today we’re releasing two features that reduce the need for you to type in specific queries to get the information you want. Both of these are available to Search History users…Don’t expect very much at the beginning, but the more you build up your search history, and the more you use these features, the better they’ll become. Over time, we will give you more and better recommendations.”
As Chris Sherman points out, “this is remarkably similar to the StumbleUpon toolbar.” The difference, says Sherman, is in the amount of effort required from the user to create a personalized profile - StumbleUpon users actively vote for content they do and don’t like, whereas Google’s recommendation tools pick sites by observing the user’s behavior.
Incidentally, StumbleUpon may have just been purchased by eBay for an estimated $40 - 75 million. Though rumors are still unconfirmed, GigaOm, TechCrunch and Search Engine Land are all reporting on the acquisition.
Topics: Google, Investment, M&A, Search: Innovations, Social Media |