How exciting - global users are now able to use Google’s social search! As the leading search engine in the market Google, Bing and Facebook need to keep a close eye on them as the social search battle heats up. A lot of similarities can be drawn from Google’s Social Search with Bing’s social signals which was introduced a while back. Read more about this in our article ‘Facebook and Bing: The Future of Search?’
So how does it work?
You must be logged into your Google Account, as this will allow Google to see the people in your network which will enable them to show up right in Google search results.
Here are some tips to expand your network:
- Create a Google profile.
- Link your profile to social websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, LinkedIn and Plaxo.
- Find people to follow on Google Buzz.
- If you use Gmail, add more people to your Google contacts.
- Subscribe to interesting content using Google Reader. E.g. celebrities, friends.
With the rise of social media, Google is putting a higher priority on relevant and high quality search results from people within your social network. The premise being that as these results come from people you trust, you would be more likely to click on a website based on a recommendation from your social network, as opposed to another that hasn’t been recommended. It’s all about leveraging off the power of word-of-mouth, which for most businesses, has always been the best way to acquire new customers. This is testament that the web is rapidly changing into a place more centred around human connections, sharing quality content and uncovering results that will have meaning to you personally. Here is a video on Google’s Social Search Update.
