] Q: There are some personalization tools emerging. Amazon's
] A9.com and MSN are using different techniques. Google's
] tool is a little bit more like, "Give us information, and
] we will help you out," and the others take the approach,
] "We will learn from you, and then we will help you out."
] Tell me why your approach is superior.

] A: In the latter scenario, where first you learn, and then
] you help the visitor out, you have two places where the
] computer has to make intelligent judgments. I am not
] saying that is not an interesting or promising approach,
] but it does put more strain on the computer. When you
] tell it what your interests are, then the computer only
] has to be intelligent to use that information to try to
] help you out. They are both part of the same goal of
] trying to help people out with personal information--it
] is just a matter of how you get there. We will be seeing
] more of this in the future.

Interview with Google's Craig Silverstein | CNET News.com