Shirt a Phobia

Sample Page

Google Programmable Search Engine (formerly known as Google Custom Search and Google Co-op) is a platform provided by Google that allows web developers to feature specialized information in web searches, refine and categorize queries and create customized search engines, based on Google Search.[2]

Services

Custom Search Engine

Google Co-op logo

Released on October 23, 2006,[3] Google Custom Search Engine started as a way to let webmasters index and provide search for their own sites.[2] It also let anyone create their own search engine by searching a list of links as well as the sites linked from those sites.[4] This allows custom search engine users to narrow the web that they are searching and have a less cluttered search experience.[2][5] You can also limit the results to only originate from specific countries.[5] The search engine can be integrated into Chrome[6] and Firefox browsers.[7]

From 2014 until 2016, Custom Search Engines were among those found to be vulnerable to a man-in-the-middle attack leading to malware being installed on over 1 million computers.[8]

In 2019, the European Union fined Google for anti-trust violations for not allowing other advertisers to advertise in its custom search engines.[9]

As of January 2026, custom search engines can no longer query more than 50 domains.[10]

Topics

Topics are specific areas of search, which can be developed by people with knowledge of a certain subject. These topics are then displayed at the top of relevant Google web searches, so the user can refine the searches to what they want.[11][non-primary source needed]

See also

References

  1. ^ “The Anatomy of a Large-Scale Hypertextual Web Search Engine”. Computer Science Department, Stanford University, Stanford, CA. Retrieved January 27, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c Leswing, Kif (November 12, 2013). “Find Exactly What You’re Looking for With Google’s Custom Search Feature”. Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved March 23, 2026.
  3. ^ “The Power of Google Search is Now Customizable”. Google News from Google. October 23, 2006. Retrieved August 27, 2015.
  4. ^ Gilbertson, Scott (June 13, 2007). “Google Custom Search Engine Adds Dynamic Search Capabilities”. Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved March 23, 2026.
  5. ^ a b Pot, Justin (December 3, 2024). “This Tool Lets You Build Your Own Version of Google”. Lifehacker. Retrieved March 23, 2026.
  6. ^ Wallen, Jack (February 16, 2016). “How to add custom search engines in Chrome for more efficient searching”. TechRepublic. Retrieved March 23, 2026.
  7. ^ “Add custom search engines in Firefox”. support.mozilla.org. September 19, 2025. Retrieved March 23, 2026.
  8. ^ “An HTTPS hijacking click-fraud botnet now infects almost 1M computers”. Computerworld. May 16, 2016. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
  9. ^ Amadeo, Ron (March 20, 2019). “The EU fines Google $1.69 billion for bundling search and advertising”. Ars Technica. Retrieved May 7, 2026.
  10. ^ “Updates to our Web Search Products & Programmable Search Engine Capabilities”. January 20, 2026.
  11. ^ “Custom Search Advanced Topics”. Google Help. Archived from the original on September 11, 2014. Retrieved July 31, 2014.
  12. ^ “Bing Custom Search”. Microsoft. Retrieved April 4, 2026.
  13. ^ Claburn, Thomas (May 10, 2017). “Microsoft is on the edge: Windows, Office? Naah. Let’s talk about cloud, AI”.