Chrome extension blocks sites from Google search results


15 Feb 2011

In an effort to stem the tide of content farms – sites with shallow or low-quality content that depend on search for their traffic – Google has released an experimental extension to its Chrome browser.

The extension, Personal Blocklist, places a link beneath any Google search result that lets users remove an entire website from search results.

Personal Blocklist also adds a link at the bottom of search result pages affected by the extension so users can still see the results they’ve blocked.

Users can also edit their lists of blocked sites by clicking on the extension’s icon in the top right of the Chrome window.

When users block such a site, that information goes to Google, where it could potentially be used as part of the internet search giant’s search algorithms.

“This is an early test, but the extension is available in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Turkish,” principal engineer Matt Cutts wrote on the Official Google Blog. “We hope this extension improves your search experience, and thanks in advance for participating in this experiment.”