Alot of people seem to be having difficulty finding the information about what Google SearchWiki is. Several people want to know why there is suddenly an arrow and “X” marks next to their google search results and some folks are having a hard time finding the information as it appears that google may have removed it from their site, while the service still exists.

Here is the info that used to be on Google’s site straight from a cached result:

1. What is SearchWiki?

This feature allows you to influence your search experience by adding, moving, and removing search results. When you search for the same keywords again while you are logged in to your Google account, you’ll continue to see those changes. If you later want to revert your changes, you can undo any modifications you’ve made.

Note: This is an experimental feature served to a random selection of participants and may be available for only a few weeks.

2. How do I use SearchWiki?

Here’s how you can move, remove, or add results:

Like it?

This button will move the result to the top of the page and add this marker next to it so you can easily recognize it. The result(s) you promote will appear at the top whenever you search for the same keyword(s) in the future.

Don’t like it?

This button will remove the result, and it will remain hidden when you search for the same keyword(s) in the future.

Know of a better webpage?

At the bottom of the search results, you can provide the address of a page that’s relevant to your search. When you search for these same keyword(s) the page you’ve suggested will appear at the top with this marker .

Make a comment

This button opens up a text box where you can make a comment. Comments will be visible to you next time the same result appears in a search, and are a great way to remember thoughts you had about particular webpages.

3. Why is Google enabling this feature?

We are constantly looking for new ways to improve the search experience and are experimenting to see if giving searchers increased control over their search results improves the overall user experience.

4. Do I have to be signed in to use SearchWiki?

Yes. To see your changes next time, you must be signed in to your Google account.

5. What if I don’t see a webpage that should appear for my query?

You can recommend a better webpage for a specific query that you’d like to see the next time by clicking the “Add a result” link at the bottom of the search results page. Simply enter the URL of your recommended webpage and click the “Preview” button. Once you’ve verified that this is the webpage you’d like to recommend, click “Add” button and this webpage will appear at the top of your search results.

6. Are these changes permanent?

No. Your changes will be applied each time you search for the same keyword(s) for the duration of the experiment. If you want to add the removed webpages back into your search results, click the “Show them” link at the bottom of the search results page next to “You have removed results from this page.” and click “Restore.” The results will automatically be returned to their original ordering. If you would like to restore a promoted result into its original position as determined by Google, simply click the down arrow next to the result. In order to delete a comment you made, click “edit” and delete the text inside the comment box. If you added a new URL to the search result page, you can delete it by clicking the X next to the result.

7. Can I share my results with others?

Your comments and the webpages you add, promote, or delete, along with the user nickname for the account you’re logged in with, may be viewed by other Google searchers also in the experiment. You can’t directly share your comments or additional results with other users who aren’t in the experiment.

8. What will Google do with the changes that I provide?

We’ll use input from this experiment to provide web search features such as the personalized results you see, and to decide whether features like this would be useful for other users in the future. As we expand this feature, we may also show the comments and changes that you provided to other users, along with the nickname of the account you were logged in with to make the changes. Like any data you share with Google, this is subject to Google’s Privacy Policy. If you ever want to delete comments or changes you have made, just follow the instructions outlined above.

source: Cached Results

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