What is Google Web History
This free service remembers where you’ve been on the web when you’re logged into your Google account.
You might think of Google web history as a password protected online audit trail of your web activity.
Although it doesn’t store the page contents, it does grab the URL of
pages you’ve visited along with a timestamp. If you’re accessing a
secure page such as those with https://, your activity isn’t recorded.
It also records your Google searches.
Although the web history can include your Google searches and visited
pages this doesn’t mean it will record everything by default. There are
some requirements.
For Google to record web page visits, you
need to install the Google toolbar for your browser and enable the Page
Rank and Page Info option. Without the toolbar, only your searches will be saved.
Another variable is when you opened your Google account. By default,
Google now enables this feature for new accounts. It’s possible you
missed this text when you signed up.
How do I see my Google Web History
1. Go to
http://www.google.com/
2. In the top right corner, look for the link
My Account. You may need to
Sign In first.
3. From your Google Account page, click
Web History from the
Services column on the right.
If Google has been capturing your data, you should see results like the screen snap below.
What Does Google Web History Show?
Like most Google products, the screen is nicely organized in thirds.
The left column represents different Google properties you can scan or
actions on your content. The middle section is the main area and
provides the details. The far right provides a calendar if you wish to
refine your content to a specific day.
The main content area depicts my web history for July 30
th in chronological order. There are three types of items represented, which equate to the numbered markers.
Item 1 - An example of a Google search. I was searching for the Google toolbar for IE.
Item 2 - This is an example of a web page I visited that day. Since
I’ve enabled Page Rank and Info with my Google toolbar, non-Google pages
such as the Weather Underground page are logged.
Item 3 - This is an example of a bookmark as shown by the gold star.
You can also add notes or labels to bookmarks for classification.
Acting on the Data
One nice feature of the service is that you can act on your stored
data. You can use the search textbox to find a site you can’t remember.
For example, while searching for a restaurant recently, I reviewed many
online menus. Later, I needed to find which of the menus had a salmon
entrée.
Google also does make the categorization easier with the links on the
left side. An item to note is these side links relate to Google
properties. As example, my visit to the New York Times site was not
categorized as News. Only stories I read from Google News would show in
this section.
Another feature that will appeal to people is being able to bookmark a
page after the fact. How many times have you visited a site and forgot
to note or bookmark it? With web history, you can mark an item at any
time. Google provides a bookmark button at the bottom of each page. You
can even export your bookmarks.
Building a Web Profile
In some regards, it’s great to be able to use someone else’s servers
to store your web history and bookmarks. You’re not dependent on being
on a specific computer. I can do research at my public library and see
the information when I return home. It’s also nice that Google can
leverage this data to make your future Google searches more relevant
based on items I’ve viewed. Even the Trends section is interesting by
spotting places you frequently visit or your top queries.
This personalization also raises concerns for people.
There are plenty of people who dislike this tracking behavior. They
don’t think anyone should track your web movements in this fashion
whether it’s Google or their government. While Google has
stated how they use the data
and how it can benefit you, people still wonder what other inferences
they might draw based on your activity. Certainly, they are not the
first service to use previous transactions for recommendations, nor will
they be the last. Just think of the number of online retailers that use
past purchases for recommendations.
Stop the Data Capture & Erase Google Web History
Google has provided several options for people to remove data.
You can easily check items and delete them from your web history.
This is a useful feature around holidays where maybe you don’t want
tracks left at online retailers. Of course, this really only applies if
you didn’t log out of your Google account and someone knew how to access
the page. There is also a feature where
you can pause the service from your web history page.
At some point, you may decide you don’t want Google to retain your web history. If that’s the case, you can delete your data.
1. Go to
http://www.google.com/
2. Sign into your account.
3. Click the
My Account link in the top right.
4. Click the
Edit link to the right of
My services.
5. Click
Delete Web History.
6. Read the warning on the page.
7. Check the box
Yes, I want to permanently remove Web history from my Google account.
8. Enter your current Google password.
9. Click
Remove Web History.
Log into your Gmail account. In theSend SMS box above Chat, enter the phone number you want to send a SMS to.
In the dialog box, enter Contact name of the SMS recipient and check that country and phone number are correct. Then, clickSave.
Type your message in the chat window and hit Enter.
