What job should I take? Ask Google

 

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By Alun Williams

Posted on 23 May 2007 at 12:38

Google plans to extend its grip on your personal data to such an extent that you'll be able to ask the search engine what job to take and how to spend a day off.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt says the company needs to maximise the use of personal data. He believes this is part of Google's goal to better organise and index the world's information, reports the Financial Times.

'The goal is to enable Google users to be able to ask the question such as "What shall I do tomorrow?" and "What job shall I take?",' the paper quotes Schmidt.

Google's long spoken ambition is to perfect the search results returned to users, which will be done by better understanding their concerns and motivations. The increase of data that is available to Google, through users logging in to its various services, puts it in an ideal position to use this data in other areas.

What is driving such ambitions, of course, is the lucrative online advertising market. With web-based advertising becoming increasingly targeted, such personal data helps the search engines maximise the relevancy of ads that are served to a particular user at any given time. Career information, and the job market in particular, are obvious money-spinners.

However, Google acknowledges it is still a long way from its goals. 'We cannot even answer the most basic questions because we don't know enough about you,' said Schmidt. 'That is the most important aspect of Google's expansion.'