Google lets you 'block all' search results from specific sites

Top search engine Google on Thursday introduced an experimental feature which continues its mission to chip away at undesirable search results and information from "content farms": the ability to block all results from a particular URL.

Now, when search results are returned, there is a button next to each link labeled "Block all [URLNAME] results." When clicked, that site is sent to a block list, which can be managed in the user's Google account.

"We're adding this feature because we believe giving you control over the results you find will provide an even more personalized and enjoyable experience on Google. In addition, while we're not currently using the domains people block as a signal in ranking, 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," Google search quality engineers Amay Champaneria and Beverly Yang said today.

Naturally, this feature has broader appeal outside of keeping "content farms" in check, as users can opt to block sites based upon more specific criteria, like their ideological leanings, type of content hosted, or security reputations.

The feature begins rolling out Thursday and Friday on google.com for English language users of Chrome 9+, IE8+ and Firefox 3.5+.

Chrome users have already had access to this very feature with the Personal Blocklist browser extension, which Google debuted on February 14 of this year. Similarly, Firefox users have had access to an add-on called Blocksite since last year, which blocks both the sites the user has chosen, and hyperlinks to those sites. Opera users, meanwhile, have the content block feature built into their browser, which can block entire sites, or specific content paths.