Google’s +1 button coming to new websites
June 2nd, 2011 by
You may have recently read about the advances of Google’s +1 button, which originally debuted in March of this year. The button allowed Google users to recommend content from search results and ads, and as of June 1st, the button is showing up on other websites as well, for well known news outlets such as Mashable, The Huffington Post, Reuters, The Washington Post and TechCrunch. Retailers such as Best Buy and Nordstrom also made the list.
The way the button works is simple — by pressing it, you push that item up in Google’s search results, which means anyone in your Google network will see it when they search for the same thing or something related. If you want to get in on where this is going early, you can join in on the experiment through Google Labs here. Webmasters can also add the +1 button to their own sites by checking out the process on Google’s +1 Webmaster site.
Google enthusiasts will be happy to see this innovation growing, which works a lot like Facebook‘s Like button. In fact, it could be argued that the +1 button will be a direct competitor to Facebook’s system, since many sites have implemented Facebook connectivity by featuring the Like button beneath their articles and encouraging users to show their Facebook friends what they like. Soon, we may see the Like and +1 buttons sitting side by side on sites. Will people take the time to click both — or will they choose one?
Ultimately, the Google +1 system also manipulates SEO on a personal level, as users are more likely to click something another friend recommended than wade through unfamiliar search results. It’s a brilliant move on Google’s part, but will surely get the brains of SEO businesses churning as they’ll need to include this new system in their plans for clients along with Twitter and Facebook.
What do you think about the +1 system? Does it look interesting to you, or would you prefer to continue to use the already-familiar “Like” button and share with your Facebook friends?
