What do you think of the new Google Social Search function?
The Google social search update, known as ‘Search Plus Your World,’ blends Google+ pages that have been made public in with regular search results on Google.
On Tuesday, January 10, 2012, Google is rolling out it’s new Social Search program in hopes of making it easier for people to find not only information on public webpages, but also content they and their friends have posted and made available to each other privately through both the Google+ social network and the Picasa Web photo upload and sharing site. Google+ and Picasa are the only two sites whose content will surface on this type of search result, which means that users will not see content they and their friends have shared privately on other Google social media sites such as YouTube or Blogger, nor on non-Google sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
It kind of makes you wonder why it’s called ‘Search Plus Your World’ if it’s limited to only 2 of Google’s social functions…
Here’s what Google+ Community Manager Denis Labelle had to say about the gradual roll out of Google social search on his blog:
We’re transforming Google into a search engine that understands not only content, but also people and relationships. We began this transformation with Social Search, and today we’re taking another big step in this direction by introducing three new features:
- Personal Results, which enable you to find information just for you, such as Google+ photos and posts—both your own and those shared specifically with you, that only you will be able to see on your results page;
- Profiles in Search, both in autocomplete and results, which enable you to immediately find people you’re close to or might be interested in following;
- People and Pages, which help you find people profiles and Google+ pages related to a specific topic or area of interest, and enable you to follow them with just a few clicks. Because behind most every query is a community. https://plus.google.com/u/0/108384201920217141722/posts/b8i2PybUCmn
Google Social Search | Personal Results
If you’re looking for a good Chiropractor in your area, you can search the web, but what if you want to learn from the experiences your friends have had with a Chiropractor? Just like in real life, your friends’ experiences are often so much more meaningful to you than impersonal content on the web. With the Google social search feature, you can find:
- Google+ posts. You can find relevant Google+ posts from friends talking about an amazing trip they just took, whether they’ve shared privately with you or publicly. You’ll find links shared by your friends, such as activities, restaurants and other things they enjoyed on their trip.
- Photos. You can find beautiful vacation photos from your friends right in your search results page. You can also find your own private photos from Google+ and Picasa, based on captions, comments and album title.
Google Social Search | Profiles in Search
With Google social search, you’ll have meaningful ways to connect with people of interest instantly, right from the search results.
By simply typing the first few letters of your friend’s name, you will bring up a personalized profile prediction in autocomplete. Selecting a predicted profile takes you to a results page for your friend, which includes information from their Google+ profile and relevant web results that may be related to them. And you can have this personal experience instantaneously, thanks to Google Instant. So if you’re searching for a friend with a generic name, like John Jones, you can now find your friend John every time, instead of the hundreds of other John Jones out there.
Google Social Search | People and Pages
Behind most queries are communities, and the new Google social search function allows you to see who the most prominent people are for a given topic. So if you are a fan of music or basketball and you type in the search, then you will be able to see the most influential people in that community and add them to your Circles.
Google Social Search | Summary
With Google social search, Google users will be able to continue seeing result links for webpages that the Google algorithms determine are relevant to anyone entering a particular query, but they will also be able to see result links that are deemed relevant because users’ specific social media contacts tagged them with the Google +1 button or shared them using a social media service. So what is changing now is that Google users will be able to see in their search results Google+ posts and Picasa photos that they have privately posted or that contacts have shared specifically with them. Those search results will be labeled under “personal results” on the top of the search page. Once you select that profile, if you’re a signed-in Google+ user, you’ll also see a button to add them to your circles right on your search results page.In addition, Google will surface Google+ profiles of individuals and Google+ promotional pages related to a topic the user may be interested in. Finally, Google will include links to Google+ profiles of people’s contacts and of people Google determines they might be interested in connecting with, a feature known as “Profiles in Search.” This feature will benefit people who are looking to increase their Google+ Circles with relevant users.
What do you think of the new Google Social Search function? Leave a comment below and let us know.
