Google’s Social Media Endeavor the Google +1 Button – How it works

Google +1 Button

I recently came to know about the new social media initiative by Google that they have termed as Google +1 button. This seems to be something similar on the lines of the facebook Like button found on almost every well known website and blog now a days.

It is not the first time that Google is trying their hand at getting a slice of the social network pie. But they seem to be a bit late on the anvil though. I went to their website and tried to find out what this thing was all about.

So, here is a first hand peek of what this service is going to look like and what kind of impacts this can have on our surfing and google search activities. As per google this service is all about helping your circle of friends and acquaintances on your google contacts in finding better results when they search for something on Google. Well ! What are you saying about Deepak? How can I help my friends get better results on Google search? Don’t be surprised. Here is the trick. Google have invented the Google+1 button that they are going to show against the search results on their search pages. This picture shows how this is going to look like.

Google +1 Button on Google Search

How to use the Google +1 Button

The only prerequisites for being able to use this service are that you ought to have a Google account and that you need to be signed in at the time of doing the search. By doing so you will be able to see all the +1s given by your friends from your Google contacts from across all google sites – Gmail, Google Talk, Google Contacts, Google Reader and Google Buzz.
Similarly you can show your own Google +1 s to your friends and contacts if you have a public Google profile. Or if you say in Google’s words: – Your +1′s are stored in a new tab on your Google profile. You can show your +1′s tab to the world, or keep it private and just use it to personally manage the ever-expanding record of things you love around the web.

Personalization on Non Google Sites: -

What more, they are not going to limit the reach of the +1 button only to their search pages, but you can add +1 buttons to non Google sites too. This seems to be very similar to the Like button of Facebook. (Facebook should watch out for this one as this can pose serious competition to their Like button for sure.)

See recommendations from your friends

Google +1 Social network illustration

If you start using +1 on non-Google sites, you can see recommendations from your Google contacts when you view the same content that they’ve +1′d. For example, say your friend clicks the +1 button on an entertainment site. If you visit the site, you might see your friend’s recommendation next to the +1 button.

Similar to the Facebook Like button, Google +1 button doesn’t share your private information with the third party web sites where the +1 buttons are used and you click them.

See aggregate +1′s only

If you disable +1 on non-Google sites, the +1′s of your social connections won’t appear on websites outside of Google. For example, if your friend +1′s an article on a news website and you view that same article, you’ll only see an aggregated, anonymous count of people who’ve also +1′d the site.

+1 on non-Google sites and your web activity

The only time the +1 button will associate your identity with specific web content is when you choose to click the +1 button for something on the web. By clicking the +1 button, you’re explicitly signaling interest in displaying, sharing, or recommending specific online content, including ads. So if your friend chooses to +1 an ad, page, or search result, you might see that +1 on other websites. Google stores your +1′s to personalize the web, for example, by showing them to your social connections and others who may find it relevant.

If you’ve chosen to display your +1′s tab publicly, people who visit your Google profile can see all the items you’ve +1′d. If you’ve chosen to keep your +1′s tab private, only you will be able to see the contents of your +1′s tab.

Google makes the web more social

So, Google is going to make the web more social by including the whole web for your rating. You can rate anything and everything from a web page to an application to a product to an image to an ad. And your friends will be served pages by google as per their contacts’ likes and dislikes. So, that means if someone from your contacts likes a web page, then google thinks that you are most likely to like that page too or say that page may be more relevant to you also.

And expect the +1 button to eventually affect the way our search results are shown. May be google starts giving preference to pages that have more +1s, who knows. And you can give it a try at their Google Experimental page. I am sure this is going to bring in a revolution in our searches online and make the experience of surfing a lot more productive. What is your take on this? Don’t forget to make a comment just in case google listens to this and bring the changes that you ask for. Happy reading.