Is Google Trying to Invade Your Privacy with Gmail Web Search?

Google GOOG has announced that it will allow Gmail users to see e-mails in their Web search results. Is this the next important evolution for Google.com or has the search engine giant gone too far? The answer may depend on where users receive their information. Some reports have made it sound as if Google is going to allow the world to read a user's personal e-mails. That is not the case. According to Google's official blog, users' e-mails will only be revealed in their own private searches. Thus, a user will have to be logged in for this feature to work. Users will not be able to see e-mails that are not already associated with their personal Gmail account. What is the purpose of this feature? Amit Singhal, Senior VP of Google Search, wrote a blog post explaining why the company has added Gmail results to Web search. "[Suppose] you're planning a biking trip to Tahoe, you might see relevant emails from friends about the best bike trails, or great places to eat on the right hand side of the results page," Singhal wrote. "If it looks relevant you can then expand the box to read the emails." Those who wish to try the new feature can sign up at g.co/searchtrial. While Gmail currently serves more than 425 million users, Google is currently limiting the new search function to just one million people. Follow me @LouisBedigianBZ