Head March 2010 | Basic SEO | SEO Tips | SEO Factors | SEO Analyst Chennai

Google Replaces SearchWiki with New " Starred Results "

Google removed SearchWiki, the feature that allowed you to customize search results by promoting them, removing them or adding comments below search snippets. SearchWiki cluttered search results and the aggregated results from public SearchWiki pages were rarely useful. SearchWiki has been replaced with a simple feature that lets you star search results. Click on a star next to a search results and you'll see it in a "starred items" OneBox at the top of the page. Another side effect is that the starred search results are added to Google Bookmarks, so you can quickly find them later. The "starred items" OneBox shows the most relevant bookmarks that match your query and it's the easiest way to search Google Bookmarks.

This is useful, because you don’t have to remember or bookmark anything. If you love “Chicken sandwhich” and search for “sandwhich recipes” on Google, chances are that you will see the relevant results which were starred some weeks ago. The starred results also sync with Google Bookmarks and if you use Google toolbar, you can quickly star items from the toolbar button.

I think Searchwiki and Starred items are good ways to organize personalized results but the latter is much smooth and easy to use. If the content is good, a user may not like to change the order of search results. Instead, he is more likely to bookmark the link for future refrence, which is why “Starred items” have replaced the Searchwiki feature. Searchwiki fans need not worry as all the Searchwiki edits are preserved in their Google account. Please note that “Starred results” are available only when you are signed in to your Google account.