*correction* "Murphy's Law" 1943, not

[Mark Mandel]

On Thu, Oct 15, 2009 at 5:36 PM, Dave Wilton <dave at wilton.net> wrote:
>
> I'm convinced Google does some massaging of the data to display what they
> think you are looking for, rather than what you are asking for.

They do, and they tell you so, and they give you the option to cancel
that for each search. Whenever I run a Google search, I see at the
foot of the page

      Personalized based on your web history. More details

Clicking on "More details" produces this:

====

When possible, Google will customize your search results based on
location and/or recent search activity. Additionally, when you're
signed in to your Google Account, you may see even more relevant,
useful results based on your web history.

The following information was used to improve your search results for
[your search string]:

Web History
One or more items in your Web History were used to improve search results.
Manage Web History
Remove Web History from my Google Account
If you're curious, you can see what a search for [your search string]
looks like without these improvements.

The 'More details' link on your search results page can be used to
display this page for approximately 30 minutes, after which it will no
longer show this page.

====

-- m a m

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