Google Counts On a New Social Strategy by +1's

Google has floundered with the development of a viable social strategy, but Ignited SVP Dave Martin believes that its efforts in that area are about to become turbocharged with the introduction of +1. "Since Google is the dominant referrer of traffic on the Web, they should able to establish an enormous footprint with +1 very quickly," he said.

Google has launched what many see as its answer to the growing phenomenon of social search in general and Facebook's "Like" button in particular: the +1 button.

It is similar in concept, although in Google's case it will eventually be included in search results. When users see something they like on a Google property such as YouTube or a search ad, they can click the +1 button.

 

The icon will start to appear in search results within a few weeks, Google spokesperson Jim Prosser told TechNewsWorld. For the moment, it is available only to a small group of people who have opted in on Google's website.

"This is very early days for this button. Right now, we are working to bring it to publishers' sites in the coming months as well," Prosser said.

Once enough people are using the feature, it will begin to act as sort of a recommendation service for users -- or at least that is the intent. Someone planning a winter trip to Tahoe, Calif., may see a +1 from a relative next to the result for a lodge in the area, Google said in a blog post introducing the service.

If there is no one you know who has +1'd a particular search you are conducting, Google may just display how many people in general have +1'd the results.

A Signal for the Algorithm?

Google may eventually co-opt the data for its search algorithm down the road, using it as one of its so-called signals, but that is not a certainty. "All we can say is that we are paying very close attention to how users are interacting with it," Prosser said.

+1's -- or the lack thereof -- will not have an impact on ads, he noted. "We aren't changing how an ad ranks on search based on this information. It is just an additional piece of relevance to users' search experience."

Advertisers could theoretically benefit, of course. It is important to note that users won't be +1'ing the creative of a particular ad but the actual landing page -- that is, the company -- to which the ad is linked.

"If you saw that a friend +1'd an ad, it could have come from the organic side -- the company's site -- or from the ad itself," explained Prosser.