SurfCanyon is a Firefox plug-in that claims mind reading capabilities. Even though there’s no actual magic involved, this nifty little app does a great job of digging though the search results for the hits you need, even though Google buried them on page 12.

SurfCanyon accelerates the search process by re-ranking the search results based on your behaviour. This way, the browser extension applies a layer of real-time implicit personalization. The software is transforming static lists of links into dynamic search results pages that work with the you as you explore the search results.

How does it work?

Once the plug-in is installed, you go to one of the three search engines supported (Google, Yahoo! and MSN) and enter your search term as usual. In the search results, you’ll notice the difference: A little bulls eye icon appears next to each search result. If one strikes you as particularly useful, click the bulls eye and SurfCanyon suggests more hits like it, retrieved from deep within the search results.

If none of SurfCanyon’s suggestions are exactly what you want, click the bulls eye by the best one and drill down a layer. This way you can keep refining your search until you get what you want.

Is it any good?

Many plug-ins that are supposed to help you do the exact opposite by being a nuisance. SurfCanyon isn’t intrusive. All it adds are the little bulls eye icons.

So you can forget all about it until next time you get annoyed at the enormous amount of search results presented by Google and the total absence of any tools for refining your search. I’ve never understood why Google doesn’t offer suggestions for refining your search like Live Search and Yahoo. With SurfCanyon, you can add a handy tool for improving your search results.