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Google Custom Search Engines Open Worlds of Potential
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The development of the Internet, and later search engines, has put a wider (and sometimes deeper) range of information at more users’ fingertips than ever before. What’s more, it has empowered users to find exactly what they’re looking for – the ultimate in “personal media,” if you will. But large general search engines have their faults. What if you could build a search engine that focused specifically on your own interests?

That’s exactly the service that Google unveiled with its Custom Search Engine. Now you don’t need to be a programmer to create a search engine; what’s more, the search engine you create will be vertical, based on the topics and web sites you choose. Do it right, and users of your custom search engine (including you, of course) will benefit from results that are far more relevant to their needs than what they can find at Google itself.

As we’ve often seen, Google isn’t the first company to enter this arena. Other companies that offer customized search include Rollyo, PSI, and Yahoo. But Google is throwing its brand, coolness factor, and – let’s face it – almost intuitive grasp of what should and should not be part of a user-friendly interface into this project. As an outgrowth of Google Co-op, this move throws Google right into the midst of the social search and web 2.0 world, a field in which the search engine giant had actually been lagging behind Yahoo.

From a user’s perspective, the most exciting part of it is that you don’t need to be a programmer to build a search engine anymore. You just need to have reasonable web surfing skills and an area of expertise (or at least a good hobby, preferably one you pursue with a certain amount of passion). Google is aiming its Custom Search Engine service at bloggers and others with web sites who want to offer focused searches to their users, and its potential is nothing short of enormous (more on that later).