Just a few weeks ago I blogged about Google's Blocklist Extension and how it will effect small business's online marketing efforts. Since that post went up, there have been two other major developments for personalized search. First, Google dropped the ability to'star' search results. Then, a few weeks later, they introduced Google +1. +1 is Google's most recent entry into the social bookmarking/social media realm.
The idea behind +1 is a simple one. In search results, and later directly on websites, searchers will be able to up-vote search results they like. These sites will be bookmarked on your profile page. When the same site appears in the search results of a friend, a tag will appear underneath the snippet indicating that you liked it. Google will show you +1's from your contacts in Gmail, Buzz, and Google Reader.
Does that sound familiar? Digg, Reddit, Facebook, and dozens of Delicious clones have been doing this for years. Google believes that putting the ability to up-vote content directly in search results and AdWord Ads will make searching more social. In an interview with Mashable, Google spokesman Jim Prosser said, 'People consult their friends and other contacts on decisions. It's a very easy and lightweight way to make search results more relevant. +1 lets Google cut out Facebook's well established social recommendation effect by putting the 'likes' directly into the search stream.
+1 is currently available if you have turned on the 'experimental' mode in Chrome. It can also be enabled from Google's Search Lab control panel. It will be rolled out over the next few months for all users.
So why are we talking about this now and not when it rolls out? It may have long term implications for digital marketing in general and SEO in specific - especially for small businesses. Facebook, Yelp, and Twitter have all proven themselves as recommendation engines and taste makers. But the downside is that they are all walled off from a wider audience. In Twitter's fire hose of updates, it can be very easy to miss a friend's update. Facebook walls off updates and does not allow you to connect them to other services. Unless you and all of your friends and family are active Yelp users, they may not see your reviews. By inserting recommendations directly into search results, suddenly Google becomes the arbiter of taste.
As for SEO, +1 will likely be another signal Google will be integrating into the algorithm.
1 comments:
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