Google launched some new features in ranking of search results, relevance feedback, adding web pages to results and a comment feature.
Through relevance feedback the searcher can move hits up in the search results page or deleting non-relevant hits (see: [1]). The new feature will not affect other users’ searches. Google states on their official blog that you can “tailor Google search results to best meet your needs.” the users have to be signed in to Google to use the features. Otherwise Google would have no way of knowing who they are. The users can also add a URL that they want for a given search. By clicking a link in the bottom of the search results page, other users have tailored their searchwiki. Another new cool feature is that users can comment on the results (see: [2]).
I think that this new feature looks very promising, and that Google again has proven themselves to be worthy of their popularity.
I can see many further possibilities with this type of ranking. I would like to see the use of individual users data to enhance all users searches. Google could thus attempt to make adaptive search possible, a search where user data is utilized so that similar users can benefit from eachother. A couple of years ago Simon Warthoe and I had a paper on a conference about adaptive design and knowledge organization.
