Google has followed up on the recent noises it made regarding search algorithms and much-maligned content farms with the release of a new extension for Chrome that blocks the mostly-useless content from Google search results.
The extension cleverly relies on the feedback of Google users to eventually determine which sites are the worst offenders- if enough people block a certain site from search results, Google will recognize that particular site as undesirable. Google explains:
…today we’re launching an early, experimental Chrome extension so people can block sites from their web search results. If installed, the extension also sends blocked site information to Google, and we will study the resulting feedback and explore using it as a potential ranking signal for our search results… When you block a site with the extension, you won’t see results from that domain again in your Google search results. You can always revoke a blocked site at the bottom of the search results, so it’s easy to undo blocks.
One built-in control against banning sites on principle is that you cannot see what sites others chose to block- you have to find and root out the sites you find objectionable your ownself for the extension to actually work as advertised.
I’ve installed the Personal Blocklist extension, as I’m eager to see how the removal of the same filler site results time and again will alter my new Google search yield. What kind of content do you see on a content farm, you ask? Check out this parody site for hilarious clarification.
