Google Testing “Preferred Sites” Search Customization Tool

Google has unveiled a new search customization tool called “Preferred Sites.” The feature lets you give specific sites extra weight so they’ll show up more often in your search results.

“The preferred sites feature lets you set your Google Web Search preferences so that your search results match your unique tastes and needs,” the official help page explains. “Fill in the sites you rely on the most, and results from your preferred sites will show up more often when they’re relevant to your search query.”

Preferred Sites lets you give priority to both entire URLs and specific sections of sites. You could, say, add in www.inquisitr.com and have all the site’s stories become “preferred” within your search results — or you could add in www.inquisitr.com/category/tech and include only the site’s tech stories.

Preferred Sites is considered an experimental feature. It can be activated via the Google Preferences page when you are signed into your account.

Seems on-par with the recent SearchWiki customization tool Google unveiled back in November. Unlike SearchWiki, though, at least this one won’t clutter up your screen unless you choose to activate it.

(Via Google Operating System)