Social is really starting to take a hold – and Google wants a piece of it. With the recent launch of Google +1, it’s interesting to see Google chasing the tail of someone else, in this instance Facebook. If you have a Google account then you can select the +1 button to publicly give something your stamp of approval, with a view to helping friends, contacts and others on the web find the best results when they search. This is exactly the same as Facebook’s Like button and, through the data it can gather and the reach it offers, it illustrates the importance of social interaction on the internet.
Google are continually focusing on the personalisation of search results and they’ve had some fantastic successes with ‘localisation’ but, to date, little success with ‘socialisation’. We’ve recently seen them launch new features within their SERPS, including favourites (with stars) and Google Buzz. Neither of these took off. So, will +1 succeed where other launches didn’t? +1 uses the Google account data of individuals along with all of your contacts within that account, however people aren’t really interacting with their Google account in the same way they are with their Facebook account.
It is highly likely that Bing will mimic what Google have done here and, with your Facebook login, something like this is far more likely to work. Surely it won’t be long before Facebook launches a search interface within its platform, whether it’s of their own making or through a Bing partnership?
Little wonder then that Google tried to get in there first and buy them!
