# is it true that Google monitors your searches?



## mtmob (Apr 21, 2007)

I was speaking to an SEO companies representative and he was trying to convince me that google monitors the amount of times you search something. So basically if you look up a site enough time it will show up high on the Search Engine Ranking Page.....Is this true..


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## ladyumbrella (Aug 25, 2009)

I think so, I've also heard it from a few different people...


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## mtmob (Apr 21, 2007)

Thats rediculous wouldn't that be a form of privacy invasion thats like department stores or market researchers following you to find out what stores you go too....

So how would one go about SEO and searching to see where one is ranking without google manipulationg results?


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## Airfoof (Jul 12, 2008)

Google surely does collect anonymous search data... It uses this data for all kinds of things like optimizing the search engine and of course, adwords.

Heck, you want something even more creepy? that fancy-free google docs app parses all your content that you enter, even though nobody can see it, and serves you ads based on what it finds. 

The primary methods google uses are keywords within a site and links to that site. Thats one of the big reason people say you should start a blog that links to your site and why you should post on site like TSF with your signature linking to your site.


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## Naga (Mar 11, 2008)

They don't use personally identifiable data, but they use cookies, your web browser name, IP addresses and timeouts between sessions to make their statistics.


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## chunkylover88 (Sep 14, 2009)

i can almost guarantee it, ever since i bought my 4 color press off of ryonet i started seeing ads in my gmail account about screen printing supplies and what not. 

and when i buy my whole sale condoms off of ebay i also get ads for ex tense, so i feel they save searches.


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## mtmob (Apr 21, 2007)

lol @ EX-TENZE....

Hey yeah its creepy I think I would think about it twice before I search something....lol

My conspiracy theory is..

"Google is probably a covert CIA company created to spy on people"....lol


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## Gioclone (Jul 9, 2009)

have any of you who use google or google apps actually read the terms?

You should, using google in any form your private info is public.

I remember about 2 to 4 years ago, they had a huge uproar because of how they handle privacy.


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## AeresClothing (Sep 3, 2009)

Of course they monitor what people are searching for. They are a the largest search engine.

I'd think "What people are searching for" would be a pretty obvious thing to track.

You make it sound like some dude named Carl is sitting at Google with a screen that says "Josh from Chicago's Recent Searches" telling all his buddies later at the watercooler that you were looking up nudes of Miley Cyrus.

One person searching for the same thing over and over will not make a sites rank increase. It might, however, make the rank increase for you exclusively since Google realizes that's what you are most likely looking for given your previous searches.


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## Naga (Mar 11, 2008)

Yes, as Kyle says.

Be aware, that if if you install certain free software (or shareware) like Youtube Downloader and many others, they will also optionally (and by default) install certain search machines or other malware.
These search machines can browse through cached information on your computer and give the behavior Tom described above.


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## TheJaspMan (Jul 20, 2009)

Keep in mind this is not just Google. It's also Yahoo, Bing and every other search service.

Plus eCommerce software does a little of the same thing. My store is setup to tell me what area someone is from based on IP. It then breaks down and tells me what items are looked at in that area.

It's not an uncommon practice in retail. And you can bet credit card companies are reporting info like that as well based on the demographics they have along with your billing information.

Welcome to the digital age.

But on the technical side it takes unique people searching and clicking on sites. The algorythems of search engines give everything a score. Number of times a word is used, how well the site is written, key words in the meta tags matching those on the rest of the site, hits, page errors. There is a science and art to websites. And mostly it's who pays for ads. Haven't you ever noticed that no matter what city you search for screen printing in CustomInk.com is always your #1 choice? Go figure.


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