Update on Public Service Search

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Public Service Search is a service that enables non-profit, university, and government web sites to provide search functionality to their visitors without serving ads. While we've stopped accepting new Public Service Search accounts , if you want to add the functionality of this service to your site, we encourage you to check out the Google Custom Search Engine . Note that if you already have a Public Service Search account, you'll be able to continue offering search results on your site.

A Custom Search Engine can provide you with web search and site search with the option to specify and prioritize the sites that are included in your search results. You can also customize your search engine to match the look and feel of your site, and if your site is a non-profit, university, or government site, you can choose not to display ads on your results pages.

You have two opportunities to disable ads on your Custom Search Engine. You can select the "Do not show ads" option when you first create a Custom Search Engine , or you can follow the steps below to disable advertising on your existing Custom Search Engine:

1. Click the "My search engines" link on the left-hand side of the Overview page .
2. Click the "control panel" link next to the name of your search engine.
3. Under the "Preferences" section of the Control panel page, select the Advertising status option that reads "Do not show ads on results pages (for non-profits, universities, and government agencies only)."
4. Click the "Save Changes" button.

Remember that disabling ads is available only for non-profit, university, and government sites. If you have a site that doesn't fit into one of these categories, you can still provide search to your visitors using the Custom Search Engine capabilities.

For more information or help with Custom Search Engines, check out the FAQ or post a question to the discussion group .