Google is finally making a social move in the right direction. Past experiments (Wave and Buzz) left a sour taste in many people’s mouths as the value was questionable. It is no secret that users are more influenced by other humans rather than an algorithm, so adding social signals to search results makes complete sense. The plus one button will be added to organic and paid search results. The +1 buttons will not change the way Google calculate quality score, however users may be more inclinded to click on ads due to personalised annotations that increase user interaction with the ad (similar to ad extensions), therefore increasing click through rates, which will directly influence quality scores.
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Google mentions that it plans to make the +1 button available for publishers too. This means people can reccommend your web pages for Google search results without leaving your website. Sign up to add the +1 button to your website.
The new and socially attractive +1 buttons will be rolling out on Google.com and only in English to start with. The +1 buttons will not be visible on Internet Explorer 7 or earlier versions of IE. The button will also not be visible to people that are not signed into a Google account, although there is talk that Google will consider allowing access via a Twitter log-in. Google say there is no need to make any changes to campaign strategy for the +1 button and that advertisers should, “Think of +1 buttons as an enhancement that can help already successful search campaigns perform even better.”
We look forward to seeing the +1 buttons in South Africa. Learn More.
Image source.
Joke: Apparently you will not be able to +1 chucknorris.com, because he can’t get any more awesome!
