New from Google: Custom Search Engines

Great news for both webmasters and individuals: Google has announced a new feature that allows for more control and customization on Google-embedded web page searches.

Google Custom Search Engine comes from the Google Co-op program, which was launched earlier this year. The program's goal is to find ways in which users can influence search results. (Source: searchenginewatch.com)

Co-op team members Shashi Seth and R.V. Guha claim that "finding specific information has never been so easy, and there's no programming knowledge or cost involved." (Source: betanews.com)

The new service is a vast improvement of Google's former system in which users were unable to override the PageRank system that list search results in order of popularity. On the contrary, the new Google Custom Search Engine allows users to set restrictions and allocate extra weight to certain websites. It also offers users more choices in terms of layout and design. (Source: arstechnica.com)

Google Custom Search Engine also offers users choices that are usually only available to those with advanced coding knowledge. For example, users can create refinements that automatically add words to any query. This feature enables webmasters to generate more focused results without having to type extra words into the query. (Source: searchenginewatch.com)

Additionally, results can be tailored to be more community-based by enabling website visitors to add their favorite links to the results index. (Source: pcmag.com)

Google maintains that the new service will have positive results for webmasters -- not only in terms of customer satisfaction, but also in terms of profit. The tailored search results will likely produce more relevant searches for users, which may entice advertisers to pay more for ad space. (Source: pcmag.com)

Although the service is currently only available in the United States, it is expected to be available internationally in a few weeks. (Source: pcmag.com)

To create your own Google Custom Search Engine, visit:

http://www.google.com/coop/cse/