Frequent Search Engine Users, Google Is Watching and Counting
 

Think of it as an odometer for a search engine.
The Web search service Google has quietly started placing a counter on its home page for a small number of its most frequent users.
Most Google users do not have it, but a select few now have a no-frills counter that with each search clicks higher, noting "You have done 479 searches," or whatever the actual number.

For the curious, an explanatory page linked to the counter reveals that this is a test, or limited-sample experiment of a new search counting feature.

The counter is placed on computer hard drives by a cookie, a software file that a Web site places without the recipient's permission or notification and that transmits information back to the site. "If the number contains more than three digits,'' the counter notes, "you truly are a Google frequent searcher.''

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