Computer Tips From A Computer Guy

Turn off SeachWiki customized search results in Google

Posted: 30 Jun 2009 03:01 AM PDT

SearchWiki is a feature in Google Web Search that lets you customize the result pages manually by ranking, removing, and adding notes.

It basically consists of a few extra buttons on the search result pages, including a green up arrow, an "x" to remove a result, an "Add a result" button and a comment icon, if you want to add your own comments.

You will see these buttons when you are signed into your Google account. The changes that you make will stick as long as you are logged into Google. Next time you perform that search, the results will be the customized version you created.

This was a cool idea, but frankly I never use it. The whole point of using Google for me is that they give me the best results. If I knew what was supposed to be there or what should be ranked higher, I would have created my own search engine.

It definitely helps to remove some spammy sites, but that's about it. For me, it's just annoying and distracting. Here's how you can turn off the SearchWiki feature in Google:

Step 1: First, go to the Google Preferences page. You can also go to it by going to Google.com and clicking on Preferences to the right of the search box:

Step 2: Now scroll down to the SearchWiki section and check the "Hide the ability to share, promote, remove, comment or add your own results" box.

Step 3: Now click on the Save Preferences button!

Now when you perform a search, you'll get the results without all the controls. One major thing to note, though, is that disabling SearchWiki does NOT delete your previous changes.

So any results you moved to the top or deleted will still exist. If you want search results without any modifications, you have to sign out of your Google account before searching. Enjoy!