blending the mix

I noticed today that I could add a Search History feature to my Google tool bar (assuming I had the tool bar installed and was using the page-rank feature) and was quite surprised by what I saw.

More often than not the history feature of my browser is used when I have forgotten to bookmark something or remembered something later in the day. To add Gmail style total searchability to my browser history is a fantastic feature and one which (when it needs to be used) I could realistically use more and more as a search tool for things I am interested in…but therein lies the problem - well for Google anyway.

Unless I am using Google Reader, I tend to visit mostly the same sites time and again - never really venturing far from the beaten path - that is what I have my delicious bookmarks for. Is this typical behaviour for a regular, experienced web user?

If so - Google, where are the ads in History? Even if it isn’t typical behaviour, Google - where are the ads?

In placing its PPC ads on conventional search, as we all know, Google tries to match search terms with the most relevant sponsored ad. If a PPC ad is especially relevant it is clicked on - obvious. But Google is still having to second guess the motivations and level of interest in the search term.

With history, you have a proven level of interest.

Take the examples in my image (above). I have searched for my blog (http://blendingthemix.com by the way!!), web analytics (several times) as well as a web design company. In a short space of time, I have proven a (repeated) interest in analytics, web design and blogging. There’s no mistaking that I am interested in those terms. So why are there no ads served? Is it because it is a first report? No. Is it because it is in Beta? No.

Google History is an Ad Serving system with one MEGA benefit - proof of search.

If Google History latches onto the fact that each recorded activity (or frequently recorded activity) IS PROOF of a heightened level of interest in a topic then they have opened up an absolute goldmine.

Tags: google, google history, googlehistory, blendingthemix, PPC