Personalized Search Tools

September 10th, 2009 | Author: Doron Gez Marketing Business Development

As we have explored in previous posts, the whole concept of “search” is evolving. One of the ways search is shifting to, is semantic search, which we looked at previously; another is personalized search, which is the subject in this post.

In general, personalized search means that the users’ search activity and history influences their search results. In most cases personalized search tools, such as Google suggest, monetize the users’ search activity, record which search results the users prefer, and makes use of that data to personalize search results. When users are signed in to Google, they can use personalized Google search.

The Google Suggest tool

The advantage of such tools is that the engine gets to “know” the users better and modifies the results to meet their prior search queries. Users waste less time going through search results and get more appropriate results for their needs.

A dramatic improvement?

Is this kind of solution complete? Does it improve search dramatically? SortFix believes that searches can become more powerful in a different way.

In our view, knowing the users’ search history and preferences is not sufficient. As Google’s VP of Engineering Udi Manber stated, about 20% to 25% of search queries are new and never been typed before. What does this mean? We search for new things all the time and don’t care about what we searched for even a minute ago or yesterday. In fact, we don’t really care what our neighbor or even our friends searched for, we just want our own results. So, for any subject, but especially for a new subject, we just type a new search query.

Knowing users’ history can be problematic due to the lack of sufficient history and data. For new users (searchers), who haven’t produced enough queries, it would be nearly impossible to predict their preferences.

SortFix technology improves searching and search results through powerful devices such as semantic algorithms and an advanced interface that really turns every search into a personalized search — for every user. We overcome the problems other personalized tools have by producing powerful queries regardless of the users’ history, and at the same time, give every user a personalized experience.

Personalizing searches using SortFix

SortFix’s Power Words are based on real-time results rather than historical analysis. The Add and Remove boxes let users pick the words that are relevant or not. This way of producing search queries gives users a personalized experience through a truly personalized query. More importantly, the results retrieved are more relevant and of course, more personalized.