Google Rolls Out Suggest Feature

Google has recently introduced its Suggest feature onto its main homepage. Google says the feature is designed to make searching faster and easier for users.


On the Official Google Blog it says,” Whether you are typing into the search box on Google Toolbar or Google.com, or the Omnibox in Google Chrome, Google Suggest guesses what you’re typing and offers suggestions in real time. So for example, if you type ‘bass,’ Google Suggest might offer a list of refinements that include ‘bass fishing’ or “bass guitar.”


Google says its Suggest feature needs to know what a user types in order to provide recommendations and the partial queries are sent to Google. The company says that for 98 percent of queries it does not log any data. The other 2 percent is selected randomly and data like IP addresses are logged to monitor and improve service.


Addressing privacy concerns Google says,”Given the concerns that have been raised about Google storing this information — and its limited potential use — we decided that we will anonymize it within about 24 hours (basically, as soon as we practically can) in the 2% of Google Suggest requests we use.”


Google says it expects to have the privacy feature implemented by the end of the month.


“In the case of Google Suggest we decided it’s possible to provide a great service while anonymizing data almost immediately. But in other cases - such as our core web search - storing data like IP addresses for a time is crucial to make improvements to search quality, improve security, fight fraud and reduce spam.”