Would Google Inc. (GOOG) Cross Privacy Line with Gmail in Search Results?

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has been in the business of quelling privacy concerns as it continued tinkering with its search algorithm to help users find the information they’re looking for without delving too far into personal information while still trying to be a “universal” search engine for the Internet.

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)

But now, Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is introducing some new search features, and one of them is a pilot program that involves Gmail users. The program would provide some Gmail search results off to the side of the main search list, showing an individual’s Gmail account and any relevant correspondence about that search topic. For example, if a user with a Gmail account plugged into the service and searched for “Lake Tahoe” on Google Search, not only would web sites come up, but also that user’s Gmail account would appear with any specific references to Lake Tahoe (flight reservation, comments about good biking trails, etc.).

Of course, this might raise privacy concerns, but Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) states that it is careful about this idea because it is only extending this program to 1 million Gmail users who sign up through a specific trial web site (there are more than 400 million Gmail accounts, by the way). Google already has search options within Gmail itself, so users can find specific emails that may go back several months or years (depending on how often users delete the emails in their Trash folders), so Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) seems to be counting on eliminating a step and allowing Gmail search onto a main Google search page would be appreciated by users to save time.

How this will go over completely is hard to say, but it’s pretty clear that Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) is working to become the best authority on Internet search and is trying to provide every answer to every question, no matter where where it’s located on the Web. Does it mean going into your personal e-mail account? In this case, probably. How investors will respond to these new features – and especially this Gmail search service – may be a key point in whether this pilot program gets extended to all Gmail users.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG), despite its hefty share price, is still one of the top stock holdings among multi-billion-dollar hedge funds (see the list of top tech stock picks by these billionaires).