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Google +1 or Google -1?

Posted by Andy-Heaps on March 31st, 2011

Yesterday Google released details of a new feature – the “+1”. In their own words it is “digital shorthand for ‘this is pretty cool’”. In reality, it’s another attempt by Google to break into the social space. With several failed attempts to ‘crack it’ under their belt already, namely Buzz, Wave, Searchwiki / Sidewiki (it feels like there have been so many that I’ve probably forgotten some!), instinct says +1 will be another addition to that list.

But what “actually” is it?

Well, there are three main elements:

+1 in natural search results.

The idea being if you like a search result, you ‘+1’ it. Your recommendation is made known in the search results. As per the image below, you’ll likely see the specific people from your social circle who have +1’d a search result, along with the total number of people.

(image courtesy of searchengineland)

There’s one obvious flaw with this that’s already been mentioned by several people: why would people ‘+1’ a search listing if they haven’t been to the web page / site yet? And if they have been to the website already, why would they go back to the search results to +1 it? I know I wouldn’t, and I don’t think many others would.

+1 on web pages.

This could be the solution to the above, and if +1 is to be a success, I think it’ll be driven by this. Essentially this part of it is the equivalent of a Facebook ‘like’ – you read a web page, you like it, so you click the +1 button. We know nothing more about this part of it yet as Google is ‘more focused on how +1 integrates with search right now.’

I think a crucial element has been missed here however – when you ‘Facebook like’ a page, that activity is posted to your wall – to share it with your friends. So you’re essentially getting something back. You know that by ‘liking’ a page it’ll automatically be shared with your friends. What do you get in return for +1ing a page? You might see who, from your +1 social circle has recommended a page, but little else.

+1 on PPC ads.

On the face of it, this is the same roll out as with natural search results. It does however show a potential tie in between social signals and PPC. Will we see +1’s factored into quality score, or will it simply be a visual advert change? Probably the latter for the short term at least. If nothing else, it should provide a nice boost in CTR from a combination of it being recommended by one of your ‘friends’, but also just its visually appealing nature:

So it’s still early days – it’s quite a way off from being fully rolled out, and Google aren’t even really concentrating on +1 for web pages yet, so a few key questions remain unanswered:

Will +1s in search results be factored into the natural search ranking algorithm?

Will +1s in paid search ads be factored into the quality score calculations?

How easy is it to game? It sounds pretty easy but surely, SURELY Google has thought about this!

Why is Google insisting on the use of your Google profile to ‘qualify’ to +1 something? We know why – because they want to increase use of their profiles to grow their own social graph / circle, but surely it’s just a barrier to usage at this stage – Do people really want to commit to another social network – one that gives very little back compared to the likes of Facebook?