Google have launched a new service which is designed to help users remember all the searches they've ever done on Google, and maintain these as a history. Called the My Search History feature, this is one of those interesting ideas that will no doubt have the privacy advocates doing their nut.
The concept is pretty simple. Before using Google you have to sign into your Google account. If you have a Gmail, Google Groups, Google Alerts or Froogle username and password, then you already have a Google account, otherwise you can sign up for one. Once you are signed in, you just perform searches as normal, with the added feature of a "My Search History" link on your Google home page and search results pages.
A users Google history is not stored locally on their machine, but rather is stored on the Google servers. The idea is that you can access your search history from any machine you use, but it also means that Google will have a profile of all the searches you have ever performed.
Of course, the Google history tool is entirely optional. A user does not have to sign in to do a Google search, and even if they choose to sign in they are able to turn off the Search History feature. Most users who choose to use the feature will no doubt find it to be useful, and those who don't are free to turn it off.
What is particularly interesting here is the number of services which Google are now offering which require a user to have a Google account. We wonder how many more services Google will be launching which will require a Google account to log in, and if this is the direction the search engine giant is now going in to try and hold onto users. We'll keep you posted.
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