Google Goes Social (again?)
The new project of Google, the Google +1 Button, is Google’s most recent attempt to move into social, even though the official statement is that the +1 buttons will give users recommendations and make it easier to find relevant results.
As people usually consult friends and their contacts while making decisions, Google is looking for a way to help them. But some see this new feature as an answer to Facebook’s “Like” button integrated directly to the biggest search engine.
You may ask, what does it do and what is its sole purpose. According to Google Operating System, an Unofficial news and tips about Google blog, “Google will show +1 buttons next to all search results and ads and encourage other sites to include it; the “+1” will be public and tied to Google Profiles.”
As mentioned before, by implementing “+1” Google wants to make the search results and ads more relevant without affecting the search ranking and hopefully also without changing the rules of Google AdWords as well. This should generate more relevant search results, give advice and guide users to better search results, also in terms of better targeted ads.
Connecting Google’s “+1” to Facebook’s “Like” button was denied, but it’s possible to see it implemented/linked with Twitter and there are some doubts about Quora or Flickr.
As this is still in an experimental stage (you can sign and experiment it here) and there’s no exact release date set yet, it will be interesting to see how this will end up. No doubts that it has potential, but some are already mentioning it to be a social overload and comparing the “+1” to other unsuccessful projects as Google Wave, Google X or other Google projects that failed.
On the other hand, the first information about the “+1” was released just a few days before 1st of April, the Fools’ Day, so in case it won’t work, it can still be considered a joke like Gmail Motion or the best job - Google autocompleter.
Sources: mashable.com, google.com, googlesystem.blogspot.com, pcworld.com, googleblog.blogspot.com, wikipedia.org
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google is watching you… a good way to map exactly what drives you to a call-to-action and a way to map your peers.
Ultimately; offering you and your friends google products faster, better and tailor-made. We all know that they have interest in everything.
Will google be to first one to find out the Buy-Button on people?
They’re going mobile for sure!
[...] Google Goes Social (again?) (viralblog.com) [...]
Martin, thank you for your opinion. Analysing previous Google activities, I believe that in ideal world +1 feature will improve search relevancy, so for example visitors liked your website and they gave you +1. But I have two rhetorical questions:
1. If I have done my search, I have browsed to my search result, why do I need to come back to same search query? (so +1 feature need something like open graph protocol).
2. What will stop Gray and Black hat SEOers to manipulate with +1 same as now everybody doing with FB likes?
Hi Serge,
thanks for the comment. first of all, lets face the truth – there’s no ideal world
but have to agree, a higher search relevancy would be a great feature, no doubts.
To your questions – I’m neither a tech “freak” nor a SEO guru, thus forgive me if you won’t find the best answers…
1. it would be nice, to have the query stored, but the most relevant result(s) at the time of your search would probably be replaced by new, more relevant ones, right?
2. in my opinion, nothing – there will always be a way to manipulate the results…
Hi Martin,
Thank you for your answer.
(some of them already started to create multiply G profiles)
1. Yep
2. Yes, yes and yes
BTW, regarding SEO gurus, there are none left, the last SEO guru I knew, is working in Google dev team now.
Regards,
Serge