Customize the search experience in Cloud Search

Available only with Cloud Search Platform

To tailor the search experience for the business needs of your organization, you can create a custom search application for Google Cloud Search. Search applications control the content users can search and let users refine their search to get more relevant results. 

The search interface that your users use to search for data in your company must have at least one corresponding search application. A search application provides the default parameters for a query, such as the data sources to include, the sort order, filters, and facets to request.

What is the default search application?

Your organization can use the default search application on cloudsearch.google.com and the Cloud Search mobile app. The default application searches Google Workspace services, such as Gmail and Drive. You can also customize the default application to fit your business needs. For example, you might want to add third-party data sources, such as a database repository, to the default search application. 

Before you begin

Before you can create a custom search application, the following prerequisites must be in place:

• A developer needs to define a schema for your structured data using the Cloud Search Indexing API. For more information, see Create and register a schema.
• You need to add at least one data source. For details, see Add a data source in Google Cloud Search.

Create a custom search application

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  AppsGoogle WorkspaceCloud Search.
3. Click Search Applications.
4. At the top, click Add .
5. For Display Name, enter a name for the search application and click Create.
   You can see the search application in the list, including its autogenerated application ID.
6. Point to the search application that you created and click Edit .
7. Point to Data sources and click Edit .
8. Next to the data sources that you want to turn on for this search application, click On .
9. (Optional) To configure the search options for the data sources, go to Configure search options (below on this page).
10. (Optional) To not allow Cloud Search to apply a personalized ranking^* to search results, turn it off:
    1. Under Tuning parameters, point to Personalized ranking and click Edit Off .
    2. Click Done.

^*Personalized ranking increases the priority of search results that have a personal connection to the user. For example, documents shared specifically with a user rank higher than documents shared with a group the user is a member of.

After you add the search application, it appears in the list of search applications. Your developer needs the application ID to use with the search widget or the Query API. For details, see Search interfaces.

Configure search options

When you create search applications, you can set different search options for each data source you turn on. These search options depend on what your developer sets up for the data source when they create and register a schema. If you're unsure about how to set some of these options, consult with a Google Cloud Search developer at your company.

Filters

Search filters let you limit the results your users see based on specific criteria, such as the content type. For example, you might want your support team to see only results for support cases.

In the Configuration column, next to a data source you turned on in step 8 above:

1. Click Filters.
2. Working with the developer who set up your schema, enter the JSON code for the filter configuration you want to use for this data source. Learn how to add filters.
3. Click Save.

Search quality

Search quality sets the importance level of results and the number of results to display sequentially for a given data source. The source importance influences the ranking of search results returned by Cloud Search. For example, you might want code design documents to appear high in search results for your engineering group, while you might want product specifications to appear higher for your marketing group.

For Google Workspace services, the search quality is automatically set.

In the Configuration column, next to a data source you turned on in step 8 above:

1. Click Search quality.
2. Under Source importance, click the Down arrow . Select the importance level of search results from this data source compared to results from other sources:
   • Default—Importance level isn't changed. If you’re not sure what to set for source importance, use the default
   • Low—Results from this data source are ranked lower than results from sources set to high or the default.
   • High—Results from this data source are ranked higher than results from sources set to low or the default.
3. Under Results crowding limit, click the Up arrow  or Down arrow to select the maximum number of results from this data source to display in the first page of results.
4. Click Save.

Display options

Display options determine the facets to display in search results. Facets are categories that describe the properties of an item. For example, in a search for shoes, facets might include color, size, and style. Users select facets to further refine their search results. For Google Workspace services, facets aren't available.

In the Configuration column, next to a data source you turned on in step 8 above:

1. Click Display options.
2. Check the box next to the facets you want to show for this data source.
   (Learn how to use the Query API to refine results with facets.)
3. Click Save.

Edit or delete a search application

Edit a search application

You can change the name, data sources, and tuning parameters for a search application.

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  AppsGoogle WorkspaceCloud Search.
3. Click the Search applications card.
4. A list of your organization’s search applications appears.
5. Point to the search application you want to change and click Edit .
6. Point to the option you want to change and click Edit .
7. When finished making changes, click Save or Done.

Delete a search application

1. Sign in to your Google Admin console.

   Sign in using your administrator account (does not end in @gmail.com).

2. In the Admin console, go to Menu  AppsGoogle WorkspaceCloud Search.
3. Click the Search applications card.
   A list of your organization’s search applications appears.
4. Choose the search applications to delete:
   • To delete one application, point to the search application.
   • To delete several applications, check the box next to each search application.
5. Click Delete .