Google +1 Takes on Like and Tweet
April 2, 2011 at 6:03 pm Leave a comment
As with their other social initiatives, the introduction of Google’s +1 button has generated excitement mixed with head-scratching functionality questions. It’s another step in their ongoing quest to add the social graph to their ranking algorithms, originally based upon linking popularity, before Facebook can erode Google’s dominance by doing the reverse. I personally feel that Google has a more difficult task than Facebook. +1 does nothing to dissuade me.
+1 is a version both of Facebook’s Like and Twitter’s re-tweet: a way to share content you like. But at first glance, +1 falls short in two areas.
Like vs. Re-Tweet vs. +1
| How to Use – On the Website |
How to Use – Off the Website |
Public / Private |
Rewards for Using |
|
| Facebook Like | “Like” statuses and comments in your Facebook news feed or on Facebook pages | “Like” content to share it back on Facebook; pervasive distribution |
Private |
Sharing allows you to start or add to conversations; strengthens your private network |
| Twitter Re-Tweet / Tweet button | “Re-tweet” tweets you like in your Twitter stream | Click “Tweet” button to share content to your Twitter stream; pervasive distribution |
Public |
Sharing allows you to start or add to conversations; strengthens your public network; influence search results (bec. Google has integrated tweets) |
| Google +1 | Click +1 to indicate you like a link in Google search results | Click +1 button to share content back in your Google profile; distribution will likely be pervasive if feature gains traction |
Public |
Share links; influence search results (degree of influence is unknown) |
The first shortcoming is how to use it on Google itself. A search engine is by definition designed to help you find content and go. In order to click +1 on Google, you need to return to the search results and click +1. That’s unnatural. Especially when good sharing options are readily available on the content page itself (i.e. Like, Tweet, and every other social network under the sun). Adoption of +1 will depend on publishers adding +1 buttons to their content en masse, which they admittedly are inclined to do (after all, it won’t cost too much real estate, and the opportunity to influence Google search results is irresistible).
The second more serious shortcoming is defining exactly what rewards a user reaps by using +1. Sharing links on your Google profile page by itself certainly won’t float anyone’s boat. And, at this time, there’s no conversations or networking generated by +1. While there’s an obvious connection to Buzz that could be built, Buzz has its own issues.
So, Google remains as it was before: owning very nice discrete pieces, but without a clear compelling connection between them. The potential remains, though, and that will continue to get us excited for each announcement.
By the way, +1 has not been rolled out to everyone. You can to opt-in to use it at http://www.google.com/experimental/
Entry filed under: Commentary. Tags: content, Facebook, Google, Like, publishers, re-tweet, search, search engines, social, social media, Tweet, twitter.
My name is Adam Gross. 
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