Google Search now allows users to turn off personalized results with one click, removing the need for incognito mode and making it easier to get unbiased information.
What it looks like
Google’s new “Results are personalized-Try without personalization” option, positioned in the footer, now tells you if your search is personalized and enables you to go incognito.
Here’s a screenshot from my search for “the benefits of prickly pear cactus leaves,” desktop and mobile results look similar:
When you click “Try without personalization,” the result flips to “Results are not personalized.”
How it works
Personalized results have existed since 2009; before that, most of us received the same search results for a similar search term. However, personalized results hugely changed Search, providing users different results depending on their search history.
For example, a site owner who regularly visited their site would see it ranking higher in their results than everyone else.
Google’s new feature removes personalized results by connecting to the pws=0” parameter (also around since 2009 but largely unknown), enabling users to remove historical data-driven results.
Incognito mode
Before Google’s new “Try without personalization” option, you needed to use Incognito mode to remove personalization.
The new link provides a more convenient option, allowing you to remove personalization in one click, effectively providing a clean search slate with unbiased results.
Google explains the change
Personalized results are a controversial subject as many of Google’s 4.97 billion users are unaware it exists, leading to what could be seen as encouraging biased information based on the user’s past search history.
Google has adamantly claimed personalized results are lightweight and nonintrusive, based only on regional personalization and recent queries. However, speculation that personalization is tracking user behavior at a deeper level and that users are seeing more of it could be why Google has made the change.
A Google spokesperson sent Search Engine Land (who first reported the update) the following statement:
- “This change makes it easier for people to get an accurate understanding of whether their results have been personalized, while also providing them with the opportunity to explore non-personalized results. We also make it easy for people to adjust their personalization settings at any time.”
What it might mean
Google’s new personalization opt-out feature removes what algorithms choose to show us online, providing more transparency and giving the user more control.
For website owners, however, personalized results could be why their prospective customers find them on Search; removing i could make that harder, reducing a site’s visibility and increasing competition.
Or, it could level the playing field a little, bypassing personalized algorithms and making organic SEO more important than ever.
