Archive for January, 2010

How To Turn Off Google Personalized Search

Posted by Kaz on January 20th, 2010

You may or may not be aware that as of December 4th, 2009 Google introduced Personalized Search for ALL users, regardless of if you are signed into Google or not. For some, this is a real PITA.

For example, I have to track and record rankings for my clients on a regular basis. I do not want to report on rankings showing up in personalized search, that’s for sure.

Well fortunately there is a way to turn it off. Before proceeding, make sure you are logged OUT of Google first.

When you visit Google.com, enter something in the search box and hit “Google Search”. On the results screen in the upper right-hand corner, click on the link that says “Web History”:

Then click on the link that says “Disable customizations based on search activity”:

Now enter the url to Google.com again in your browser bar and personalized search will be turned off. To verify, click on “Web History” again and you should see this screen:

If you know an easier way to deal with this, please let me know! For now, this is what works for me. So at least I feel confident knowing that I am reporting rankings that are NOT influenced by customizations based upon my interactions with Google.com.

Cheers!
Kaz

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More Great Wordpress Themes Worth Checking Out

Posted by Kaz on January 20th, 2010

I’m curious – how many of you use Google Bookmarks? I would be LOST without them. If you are not familiar, you can install the Google toolbar and quickly bookmark any page by simply clicking on the “Bookmarks” link on the toolbar.

Anyhow – I have somehow accumulated over 400 bookmarks, tagged with a slew of keywords that aren’t exactly organized in any beneficial way. One tag (category) I do maintain however is called “themes”. Periodically I enjoy scrounging for new and interesting Wordpress themes (by scrounging, I’m talking digging into 20+ pages of Google search results!). I thought I’d share a few more with you (see this post for a few others):

New Wordpress Themes

As of this post, they are offering 92 free themes. You need to look for yourself – these are top notch designs. A few I personally like are Creatismo, PressBlue (which this site is/was using – I might be changing themes again!),  and Praven.

DigitalNature

Only 4 themes available here – but they are unique. If you are looking for something different yet slick, take a look.

CSSJockey

Just one theme to show you here… called Imagination. Looks gorgeous! Can’t wait to try it out on one of my sites.

If you find any unique or interesting themes, drop me a line because I’m always on the hunt!

PS: I’m going to try and update my blog more often. TRY being the operative word.

Kaz

Posted in General, Useful Sites No Comments »