Google finally admits to using toolbar data for SE rankings

In the ongoing battle between Google and Bing (see this Bing steals Google's results thread), Google has finally admitted that they do indeed use their toolbar data for SE rankings. SearchEngineLand reported that Google stated "toolbar data is being used to:
* Measure site speed, which influences rankings
* Detect malware sites, which may cause some sites to get warnings in search results"

"Bing also pushed back on Google’s charges by saying that is just doing the same thing that Google itself does, collecting information about what users do through its toolbar, to improve search results."

The article also says that Google did not want to give more specifics as it feared people would start using this info to skew their SE results.....hrmmm....wonder what they mean by that!!!

I removed the Google toolbar a while ago and replaced it with the firefox plugin called SearchStatus. So I guess its time to start loading up those search engine toolbars to get better rankings.

Are you running google, bing or other search engine toolbars? If yes, are you seeing any significant link to search traffic from that search engine?

I posted several years ago on GWW that i noticed my SEO results were happening a LOT quicker and ranking a LOT higher in the SERPs when i searched for my sites primary keywords through using the toolbar, ive done it with every domain i have registered since and have always been listed within a couple of days and the domains seemed to LAST in the results too.

Regards,

Lee