CorpComms Magazine

And what is the omnipotent Google up to now?

It announced changes to its privacy policy yesterday that will enable it to track users' preferences more easily.

What do the changes mean?

The company will be able to follow users across its many different sites from its ubiquitous search engine, to YouTube, Google+ and Gmail. 

And why is it doing that?

This information has been collected before but bringing the data together for the first time will give the company a fuller understanding of anyone who uses its services. 

What could that mean exactly?

Google says it will use this data to help provide users with more personalised search results. For example, the company could collate the videos you watch on YouTube with the circles you're in on Google+ to better understand individual search preferences. 

What does that mean for searchers?

Some people say it will be the death of search engine optimisation (SEO) as we know it, while others say it will increase its importance because those pages still need to be found to be shared in the first place.

How much do we know about Google's privacy policies?

Google says it has more than 70 privacy documents covering all its different products. But it plans to consolidate more than 60 of these into its revised main policy on privacy. Regulators globally have been calling for shorter, simpler privacy policies. Google says having one policy covering many different products is now fairly standard across the web.

When do the changes come into force?

The changes will be effective from 1 March.

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