Beware: Google is watching you!

This post is from from my other blog here

Finding relevance through User Performance MetricsImagine a world of Google Search where each person/computer received a different set of results? Or sets of query results that were fluid and more alive? No longer could the Search Optimizer simply use tried and true techniques to rank a given site, identifying probabilistic models, themes and demographics would become a talent to be learned. The SERPs (search engine results page) would be a more fluid environment and rankings would be a moving target. All of a sudden end user performance metrics (bounce rates, conversions, frequency) would play a role in ranking of documents to individual users or sets of user groups and (potentially) the main organic index as well.Now don’t go getting all excited just yet. These concepts are nothing new and you need look no further than Personalized Search aspects (/search-engines/search-engine-optimization/the-art-of-personalized-search-optimization.html) to get the idea of what such a world may look like. What is even more interesting are the implications such data could have on the over-all organic rankings and SEO ‘targeting’ in general. You see, there are many ways to aggregate data other than a logged-in Google Account user; such as the Google Toolbar, IP addresses, cookies and more recently, the Google computer and Google Mobile (/news/latest/breaking-news-no-googlephone.html) (dubbed Android) possibilities. This proliferation of Google (/search-engines/search-engine-optimization/why-google-personalized-search-is-important-to-you.html) services embedded in such devices means there is even more access to conversion or performance data relating to natural search results. Patent Bending 101The crux of this piece centers on broadening your understanding of some of the aspects used in probabilistic models and user performance metrics. A while go, I had a look at 3 patents that Senor Slawski (http://www.seobythesea.com/) had passed along during our adventure into the murky waters of metrics and search; the summaries of which I have broken down for easier...