Google has a bunch of search results experiments always running that you can opt into to test out. A new one though (one which I do not yet see as an option for me) is particularly interesting, as it appears to be using a Digg-esque up-arrow button called ‘Like It’ and a Digg-esque bury button (an ‘X’) called ‘Don’t Like It’.

You can see Google’s explanation page for the experiment here. As they say:

This experiment lets you influence your search experience by adding, moving, and removing search results. When you search for the same keywords again, you’ll continue to see those changes. If you later want to revert your changes, you can undo any modifications you’ve made. Note that this is an experimental feature and may be available for only a few weeks.

So while it appears for now this voting is only meant to effect your own results, certainly one would think that if they decided such an experiment was a success, Google would consider adding it in to their algorithmic equations for returning the best results. No doubt, they would have to heavily watch that for gaming however – which wouldn’t be that much of an issue as they make you login to try the feature.

Also note that they have a new orange asterisk icon that appears next to results that you’ve suggested to Google for specific searches. This seems very Mahalo of them.