Personal Blocklist extension functionality becomes official Google function

You no longer need to use the Personal Blocklist extension to remove unsavory sites from your Google search results.

Google has introduced another weapon in the war against “low-quality content,” this time rolling the functionality of the above-mentioned Chrome extension into regular Google, accessible from updated versions of Chrome, Firefox and IE. Once a site is added, Google explains, you can unblock it and manage your blocked sites when signed in, so a block won’t mean forever banishing a site’s content into the ether:

You can see a list of your blocked sites in a new settings page, which you can access by visiting your Search Settings or clicking on the “Manage blocked sites” link that appears when you block a domain. On the settings page you can find details about the sites you’ve blocked, block new sites, or unblock sites if you’ve changed your mind.

Google itself seems to be pleased with its ongoing battle against what are known as content farms, but the measures haven’t been popular with everyone- namely, the owners of sites that have lost major traction for commonly searched terms. Site owners have been crying foul to news outlets and blogs about the major drops in traffic stemming from the changes to Google’s algorithm, and Mahalo cut its staff by 10% after the initiative began.

As someone who uses Google to find information all day, I can’t say I’ve appreciated the algorithmic difference because I’ve been using Personal Blocklist with a heavy hand. Have you noticed better quality search results in the wake of the measures enacted by Google?

[Google Blog, Image]