As rumored a while back, Google has launched their flavor of a Rollyo, or Eurekster or Yahoo Search Builder named Google Custom Search Engine. So why is this different? Well, it is built into the Google Co-Op, which allows you to add search refinements and annotations via topics. Also, you can easily integrate your AdSense account so that you can make money. Here is Google's check list:
(1) Specify the sites you want to include in searches.
(2) Place a search box and search results on your website.
(3) Customize the look and feel to match your website.
(4) Invite your community to contribute to the search engine.
(5) Make money from relevant ads in your search results.
(5) Learn more: FAQ and featured examples.
Here is my quick Google Custom Engine that should search only this site.
I do have the option to host a search box and search results on your own site or use the AJAX search APIs to display results but in this case I selected to host the results at Google.
How did I integrate AdSense?
I clicked on the Make Money section, added my email address associated with my AdSense account, the zip code and the last 5 digits of my phone number. Then AdSense sent me an email saying;
You are receiving this email because you recently requested access to use AdSense through www.google.com/coop. In order to use AdSense features through www.google.com/coop, you'll need to give the site access to the ad code and performance information in your AdSense account. To do so, please follow this link:
I clicked on the link and was presented with:
I said yes and then success!
With this release comes a new product to allow you to easily add other sites to your search engine. It is called Google Marker; "Google Marker allows you to add and label sites in your Custom Search Engine (CSE) or in a Google topic."
There is advanced documentation here on this feature. It explains how you can collaborate with me or others to build a social search engine.
Collaboration is an optional feature for Custom Search Engines. It allows you to let other people whose expertise you trust contribute to your Custom Search Engine. You can either invite people explicitly, or allow anyone to volunteer to collaborate, with your approval. Your Custom Search Engine (CSE) can benefit not only from your hard work, but also from that of others who collaborate with you.
Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.
