Is Google watching you?

Did you know that Google uses your previous searches and browsing history to ‘personalise’ your results? This means there is a good chance that when you search for something you will get a different set of results to everyone else.  This is because Google filters your results to show you the ones it thinks suit you best.

Even if you’re not signed into an account Google tracks where you have been on the internet.  It then uses this information to alter your search results to show you things that are related to your location and your interests.

This is not always a bad thing.  For a lot of searching you do it is helpful when Google ‘remembers’ your interests and pulls relevant sites higher up your results list. However, when searching for a new topic (e.g. for an assignment) you don't necessarily want Google to use this information when compiling your results.

TED talk: Beware online "filter bubbles"

There are some steps you can take to make your searching more ‘neutral’.

Step One

Make sure you are not signed into a Google account.

Step Two

You can use a private browser window, or incognito if you are using Chrome.

Internet Explorer      Ctrl+Shift+P

Chrome                     Ctrl+Shift+N                                     

FireFox                      Ctrl+Shift+P

Step Three 

If you want to take it a step further you can delete your browsing history.

Internet Explorer      Click Tools > Delete Browsing History

Chrome                     Click on the button on the right of the address bar > History > Clear Browsing Data

Firefox                       Click Firefox > Preferences > Clear Your Recent History > Clear Now (Ensuring you tick ‘browsing and download history’ and ‘clear cache’)