My friend Jackie is delighted that her website is appearing frequently at or near the top of page 1 in Google for her most important search term.
Every day she types her search term into Google and her site is consistently on page 1 at, or near the top. So she thinks her work is done.
But she doesn’t realise she is not seeing the truth – she is seeing Google’s personalized search results – they are placing sites she often visits, her own amongst others, at the top of the search engine listings.
To see where you really rank on Google for a keyword or phrase, I’ve found the easiest solution is to use Google Chrome’s browser.
1. Click on the spanner or wrench at the top right.
2. Then click on the “New incognito window” menu option
2. A new browser window opens with this icon at the top left.
All searches you do from that incognito window will be unaffected by your previous searches.
Hi Ollie – It’s nothing to do with Google Chrome – it’s Google’s search engine. Personalised search is there regardless of which browser you are using. Check out this article for more information : http://searchengineland.com/google-now-personalizes-everyones-search-results-31195
Thanks a lot for this. I have been scratching my head for days about why one of my sites is ranked by Google as number 2 in Chrome and on page two in every other browser. I don’t remember signing up for these personalised results or giving Google permission to track my activity.
I’ll never use Chrome again.
Ollie
Ollie Morton recently posted..The 20 Step Headline Blueprint
Thanks. I can’t STAND google personalized results. In fact, it kind of creeps me out.