Google is now allowing users to log in and have the search giant track their searches over time, using them to help improve those users' search results in the future. SearchEngineLowdown points out that this new Google Search History feature may allow Google to implement the feature MSN adCenter is slated to offer, allowing advertisers to target searchers with a greater propensity to click on certain types of search ads.
Privacy advocates have been wringing hands in recent months over the increasingly broad range of behavior and data over which Google has purview.
As Google employs a single cookie over many services, it theoretically could link searches to individuals, their email (for users of Gmail), their hard drive contents (for users of Desktop Search) and other data. This new service does not appear to significantly increase the proportion of searchers who would be identified individually, but it is more likely to cause more visibility to privacy advocates' concerns.
