subject: Google Offers Facility To Block Any Site From Search Results...For Good [print this page] Google Offers Facility To Block Any Site From Search Results...For Good
Google have announced (3rd March 2011) that all results from a particular site can be blocked by a user providing they are logged in to their Google accounts. The blocked results will not be banished completely however, and if you want you can re-instate them to your personalised search results.
According to Google, the development is aimed at such a personalised creation of search results for users. However, it is difficult to imagine many reasons why an average user would want to block a specific site for all search results. On an individual search basis it may be that one would like to whittle down the results by excluding irrelevant SERPs, but to categorically deny the appearance of a site seems excessive.
A more plausible benefit to be gained from the latest search update will probably be felt by Google themselves. The engine hopes to use the data collected from the collective blocking to "improve our search results in future" in the words of Google search quality engineers.
Many commentators are concerned abou the potentially detrimental aspects of the increased ability of users to block and subsequently disparage a certain site with such ease. Some are worried that certain immoral SEO's will engage in a programme of strategic blocking of competitor sites in order to damage their reputation and PageRank.
However, for a site to be seriously damaged by such negative activity would require a hefty number of blocks to be made against it. It has to be assumed that Google have taken pre-emptive measures to prevent such abuse of the system.
In any case, whatever opinion one may have of the recent addition to search results, it is up and running. For those with any reservations about the site block feature, only time will tell if it will present itself as an ideal platform for some black hat SEO activity.
Over the past couple of years, Google has been hard at work on its programme of search personalisation. In 2008 the SearchWiki was launched. This was a means by which users could re-rank, delete, and comment on search results. In 2010 came the stars at the side of each search result. When highlighted the labelled results would be added to a list of favourites at the top of the results page.
So, this is yet another development in the long term Google vision to make their search results as relevant as possible.
