It’s been noted that Google has filed a series of patent applications that hint at the company’s move into more user involvement for its ad distribution programs.
With three different patents, it’s clear that Google would like to leverage a very large user base for the purpose of providing more targeted ads in a more effective manner. Let everyone else to the targeting and delivering for Google. The first patent application describes User Distributed Search Results as a system for enabling you to find and share search results in an easy manner. I imagine this could be done by adding an “email this” link below Google search results, alongside the “Cached,” “Similar Pages” and “Note This” options.
The second patent would make sharing search results easy as well, by “Facilitating manual user selection of one or more ads for insertion into a document to be made available to another user or users.” Put simply, Google will make it easier to put search results into documents like email, bulletin boards, discussions, forums, blog posts, etc. An example provided outlined a book club organizer sharing pertinent information like an image of the book cover, and a link to amazon, where the book can be purchased.
These user-generated search results build on existing ways in which information is shared amongst people that communicate online, so I imagine that if this could be incorporated into some sort of grouped search result offering that would hold the most relevant information (i.e. local search results for a venue, along with contact information, map, hours of operation, parking guide, menu, other things in the area, and reviews) and could be inserted into an online document would be most helpful for a broad range of people. This particular patent seems to have a plan of being leveraged for the delivery of second-hand targeted ads, as the end user would click on the provided search results and receive the typical Google side-bar ads as well.
Google’s third application highlights the reward system by which users will be encouraged to utilize the new options that may become available to them. With this, you may get money, a credible reputation, or credit. I imagine that credit would somehow be involved with other Google products, like Checkout, and that any monetary rewards would operate under the same design as AdSense and AdWords, which overwhelmingly benefit Google.
Should these new options become available to the public, it could provide a great incentive for more businesses to sign up for Google Ads, knowing that the company is facilitating better sharing of search results. If the user base can be leveraged successfully, then these new options could work very well as a supplement of Google’s algorithms, granting a useful level of passive feedback and ultimately making online search easier across the board.
[via roughtype]
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