Deals with the number of alerts you receive per day. In other words, the algorithm change was intended to reduce recall but improve precision.
You have two options that allow you to receive: 1) Up to 20 or 2) Up to 50. You can go back and forth by simply going to the Alerts homepage and clicking the other option. We would love if Google would add a day of the week limit feature. For example, on weekdays you want 50 alerts but on the weekend you want 20. While we're at it another feature that would let users to turn off their alerts for a period of time (going on vacation/holiday) would also be great.
+ The Name of the Default "Type" of Search
It used to be labeled "Web" and now it's labeled "Everything." For the most part it's just a name change. Results will still come from all types of web sites. Of course, you can use the pull down option to limit your query to only news, video, blogs, or discussions. Google suggests that if you're getting to many with the Everything option to consider modifying your search or select another time period. Perhaps from once a day to once a week.
Update: Two things we are checking on with Google
A) Are the 20 or 50 alerts numbered determined by the time period you choose (e.g. 20 alerts per day or 50 alerts per week)?
B) When we just went to edit an alert and went to number of results it still offers 10 or 50. Also, if you have/had ten selected will this automatically be increased to 20?
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