In its attempt to weed out low quality websites, Google has introduced a new feature that allows logged in users to set their own preferences in search results by blocking sites they do not like and at the same time customising future search results.
The search giant has introduced the option to block sites from future results, and thereby shape future ones.
Google Search Quality engineers Amay Champaneria and Beverly Yang wrote on the official blog that people often come across search results that do not have the appropriate websites, have pornographic content or are of low quality.
They wrote, "For times like these, you’ll start seeing a new option to block particular domains from your future search results. Now when you click a result and then return to Google, you’ll find a new link next to "Cached" that reads "Block all example.com results."
"We’re adding this feature because we believe giving you control over the results you find will provide an even more personalized and enjoyable experience on Google."
After a domain is blocked, it will not show up in future search results for the entire session.
Users will have the option to undo their choices on a new settings page. They will also be notified each time they get a search page that would have had a result from a blocked website.
But the blocking facility can be availed by only those who have signed in using their account, though the new link will be visible to everyone.
Recently, Google had announced a tweak in its search algorithm that would bring down "content farms" or low quality websites in its search results, a move that is believed to affect businesses driving on SEO and practices such as Black Hat.
Google said it is not considering the number of people who block any specific websites in the search result rankings.
The blog also said that "while we’re not currently using the domains people block as a signal in ranking, we’ll look at the data and see whether it would be useful as we continue to evaluate and improve our search results in the future."
Many new search engines have stricter screening than before in an attempt to offer genuine results to users. While Google’s algorithmic change aims to rank low quality websites lower down on its search results, search engine Blekko has gone ahead with an outright ban of more than 1.1 million spam-laden websites.
Google’s new block feature will be available on google.com in English and Chrome 9+, IE8+ and Firefox 3.5+ Web browsers.The feature will be extended to more regions, languages and browsers soon.
