Back in March, Google announced it would be introducing its +1 feature – a networking tool which allowed users to promote content they recommend. It will act very similarly to Facebook’s “Like” button or Twitter’s “Favorite” option.
Well, this week Google announced it would be allowing people to include +1 on their own website – again, just like you can with other social networking tools. The +1 button will initially be rolled out on some big sites – Reuters, The Huffington Post, Best Buy, etc. It will continue to expand to other sites, and is currently available for anyone who wants to utilize the new tool.
There are instructions on how to add Google’s +1, as well as other details about the release.
There are some pretty significant potential benefits from this new tool. We know that Bing already uses information from Facebook in its search results, and it’s not unreasonable to think that Google is already doing the same with various social networks. This new +1, however, gives Google direct information about how it is used and lets them collect data specific tailored to their tool.
And while we won’t necessarily know exactly how the +1 data is used to rank content (at least not right away) we can be sure it will be taken into consideration. We can also be sure that now that the button is available, people will not only be encouraging you to +1 their site (in addition to “Liking”, “Retweeting”, and “Linking”) but they’ll also be trying to game the system. We’ll see what Google has in place to help combat that.
But if you want to start using +1, you may have to wait; it’s being rolled out gradually. And in order to use it, you’ll have to have a Google profile and be signed into your account. All of that being said, it will be interesting to see how this button is used and the benefits it will bring.
[...] of failed social media attempts – perhaps most prominent are Google Wave and Google Buzz. Google recently announced +1, but it’s too soon to tell how that is going to work [...]