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Google's New +1 Social Search Button Puts 'Likes' in Your Search

by Thomas Houston on March 30, 2011 at 03:00 PM

google plus one
Adding yet another thing to click as you make your way across the Web, Google has finally launched its long-rumored '+1' recommendation service. (Try it out here.) It seems that Google is augmenting its algorithmically derived search results with your contacts' recommendations. Google's Matt Cutts told AdAge, "When someone recommends something, that's a pretty good indicator of quality." The assumption is that your friends' +1's would help you find, say, the best coffee shops in Austin or top-notch mushroom risotto recipes. While tweets and Facebook "likes" let users respond to your sharing, +1's are simply public votes for any given link you find through Google search.

Launching experimentally today, +1 can only be used on Google's search results pages, but will eventually be accessible from other links. Sites like Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr have proven to be helpful alternatives to search for finding and sharing interesting content, and Google's hybrid approach, with a potential user base of millions, could help improve the quality of search results.

As Google finally settles with the FTC today over last year's Buzz privacy disaster, it's notable that contacts and privacy are again an issue. With followers, contacts and profiles littered across Google's Gmail, Google Reader, Talk, Buzz, Profiles and other services, exactly to whom your +1's go remains unclear.

Tags: +1, add+google++1+to+your, addgoogle+1toyour, google, Google+1, GooglePlusOne, new+google, newgoogle, PlusOne, search, socialnetworking, top, web

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