Photo courtesy of seroundtable.com

Google has expanded their Personalized Search Results.  Previously it was only offered to signed-in users.  Now it is offered to signed-off users as well.  If you use Google to search topics about your favorite sports teams or easy recipes, it is likely to show the website that you have clicked on the most higher in the search results.  Google says that it may take up to 180 days of search results compiled from “an anonymous cookie attached to your browser” and that you will know when it happens because a “view customizations link” will appear in the upper right-hand corner (when this happens, you will be able to disable customization as well).  For the full story, go to Google’s Blog.

It is important for SEO Marketers to remember to disable the customization as they want to see the results like a first-time searcher on Google.  If not, your site may appear higher in the organic search results than on the “normal” person’s results because of your own frequent visiting.