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This all makes no never-mind to me, as I'm going to turn that right off (you can do that, right?). I prefer to evaluate on my own what information is relevant and what isn't. Happy accidents, you know.

Did Google ever announce what the rationale for this is, from a revenue perspective? Is a link with content that a person is likely to recognize also likely to generate extra revenue?

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I'm going to turn that right off (you can do that, right?)

Yes. Settings icon ( ⚙ ), then Search Settings, then Do not use personal results.

What if you don't want to tell them who you are at all?

I.e., you block cookies.

They'll still no doubt be using geolocation to filter results, as well as time of day, browser being used, etc...

At their scale, they can no doubt see patterns in data that make it worth personalising search based on those factors, regardless of wether or not you are signed in.

I'm less concerned with receiving unbiased search results than I am being in control of the choice to divulge my own identity.

The rationale is clearly to drive traffic to their own products at the expense of competitors like twitter and facebook. SPYW is just more advertising, except for now it's limited to google properties. They're obviously banking that people won't notice or care that most search results are now paid placements.

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