New Google search

DAILY DOT COM - Searches on Google.com are getting more personal,or should we say, more detailed.  

Tuesday, the multi-media company rolled out a new feature that could bring it one step closer towards its ultimate goal. Google eventually hopes to know enough about each of its users so it can tailor its results to fit the unique interests of each person looking for something.  

Google is folding more of your personal data into its search results.  For example, if you have a Google+ or Picasa account, content from those services will be highlighted in your search results.

As part of the expansion, the profile pictures of Plus accountholders will appear in the drop-down suggestions on Google's search box. So when typing in "Mary," you may see those named Mary in your circle along with those Google believes you'd find interesting.

Searches on general topics such as "music" and "sports," will generate suggestions on people and companies that have Plus accounts.  

If the new formula works as Google expects, the search results will include pertinent information culled from the requestor's Plus account.

For instance, a query about the San Francisco 49ers might include links and comments made about the football team by other people in one of the social circles on the user's Plus account.

A search request that includes the name of a dog owned by the user or a friend might turn up photos of the pet that have been posted on Plus and Picasa.

Ideally, different people will see different search results even if they're looking up the same subject matter.  

The new feature could help users minimize the amount of time they spend on the web looking up topics or people that matter to them most.  

Those uninterested in seeing personal results for a particular search have the option of turning the personalized results off thanks to a new Google toggle switch.

Google isn't the first to do this. Bing has been mining some of the preferences and other information shared on Facebook since May.

Experts said it’s a good idea to search your name on the internet to check your reputation.  

Increasingly employers, institutions and universities are looking to the web to gage a persons worth.  

According to a blog on debmcalister.com , a good place to start checking is American Express’s list of steps to take periodically to manage your online reputation.

When I asked people on Twitter.com how often they searched their names on the web, I received the following responses:

@shamb0413 “A couple times a month.”

@bamaalice “About once a month, occasionally twice. What about you?”