Google’s +1 Button: Relevant Search Recommendations
Overview
It’s been an exciting start to 2011 for web enthusiasts. It seems like every week someone is announcing or releasing something new. For those of you who haven’t heard Google released a new recommendation system last week for Google search results titled the +1 Button. The +1 Button lets signed-in Google users recommend content they like to their friends and contacts in order to make organic search results more relevant.
To get a quick overview of the +1 Button watch this 2 minute video from Google.
Our goal at Google is to get you the most relevant results as quickly as possible. But relevance is about relationships as well as words on webpages. That’s why we recently started to include more information from people you know—stuff they’ve shared on Twitter, Flickr and other sites—in Google search results.
Today we’re taking that a step further, enabling you to share recommendations with the world right in Google’s search results. It’s called +1—the digital shorthand for “this is pretty cool.” To recommend something, all you have to do is click +1 on a webpage or ad you find useful. These +1’s will then start appearing in Google’s search results.
- via Official Google Blog
Examples
You will now start to see a new button next to each Google search result. Clicking the +1 button means you think «this is pretty cool» or «you should check this out». Here’s an example:
When your friends search for a similar topic on Google, they would then see your recommendation on Google search result pages.
Probably the greatest advantage of the +1 Button is that your now getting relevant recommendations from people whose opinion means something to you. Also, all your +1′s will be stored in a separate tab where you can easily manage them and share with others.
What’s next?
- In order to +1 results you’ll need a Google Profile
- You can opt in to see the button right now at Google’s Experiment page
Coming Soon: +1 Button for Your Website
The +1 Button is currently only available for Google search results. But they have announced that it will soon be available for your website. Similar to the Facebook «Like» button and Twitter buttons, you’ll be able to add a +1 Button as well. You can sign up for the button now here. https://services.google.com/fb/forms/plusonesignup/
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