Search Engine Wars: Google Aims for Social Search, as Microsoft Chases It With Bing | Technomix | Fast Company

Search Engine Wars: Google Aims for Social Search, as Microsoft Chases It With Bing | Technomix | Fast Company: "Google has really been pushing new features lately, and getting news interest as developments like Wolfram Alpha and Twitter's live search seem to be innovating how search engines work. But when speaking to reporters, Google's Group Product Manager Ken Tokusei revealed another new angle that the company is investigating--personalized, social-network style results to search queries. He noted that people are using the net more and more to find out more personally-relevant soft information like restaurant recommendations rather than traditional hard fact searches. Tokusei then acknowledged that Google would like to weave in search responses from people you're acquainted with, and admitted that 'We haven't gotten to the point where results are seen as if they come from someone you know.' For now, Google will add a slightly personalized, more human angle to search queries by letting users rate search responses and delete unrelated links."