Google Gives Users the Option to Block Sites from Search Results

Google dealt another blow to Web site owners Thursday when it gave users the option to block certain domains from search results.

Going forward, if you conduct a Google.com search, click on a link, but then return to Google, the search giant will include a "Block all xyx.com results" link underneath the site you just clicked (below). Once clicked, Google will display a message that says, "We will not show you results from xyz.com again" with the option to undo or manage blocked sites.

"Once you've blocked a domain, you won't see it in your future search results," Google said in a blog post, though "the next time you're searching and a blocked page would have appeared, you'll see a message telling you results have been blocked, making it easy to manage your personal list of blocked sites."

That notice will either appear on the top of bottom of the page, depending on how relevant it was to your search.

Blocked sites will be tied to your Google Account, so you have to be signed in to confirm a block. Those sites can be managed in the settings menu. "On the settings page you can find details about the sites you've blocked, block new sites, or unblock sites if you've changed your mind," Google said.

The move comes several week after Google announced a change to its search algorithm that reduced rankings for low-quality sites. The switch impacted about 11.8 percent of Google queries and was intended to produce more useful results, but some Web site owners were worried that it would affect their Google rankings and, in turn, their entire businesses.

"It has to be that some sites will go up and some will go down," Google said at the time. "It is important for high-quality sites to be rewarded, and that's exactly what this change does."

Google said Thursday that it is "not currently using the domains people block as a signal in ranking, [but] we'll look at the data and see whether it would be useful as we continue to evaluate and improve our search results in the future."

The blocked sites feature is rolling out today and tomorrow on Google.com in English, and will be available for those with Chrome 9+, Internet Explorer 8+, and Firefox 3.5+.