March 30, 2011: the day Google introduced the +1 button. The world as we know changes forever. Or does it? Besides bloggers and the Google watchers, will anyone actually care?
Given Google’s stumbles with social to date (Google Wave anyone?), there is reason to be cautious about calling +1 the Internet’s next revolution, but if you work in PR, digital marketing or social media it may have a very big impact on what you do day in and day out.
Let’s start with the basics. How does it work?
You need to sign up for Google +1 through Google’s Experimental page. A good tutorial for how to “turn on” Google +1 can be found here. Once you’re up and running, the +1 button will seamlessly be included into your search results, and will become prominent when you hover over it as seen below:
What does it do?
As Google’s own blog explains, the +1 is basically a recommendation for anyone in your network. Right now you’ll be able to see any +1’s from people you’re connected with in google (chat friends or contacts) and Google has hinted that it may soon incorporate Twitter followers and other social networks. They have currently made no mention of Facebook, which makes sense given it is a direct competitor for the “like” button and Microsoft made Bing a “social search” engine back in October by integrating “likes” into search results (which may have had a hand in bumping Microsoft’s search market share from 11.5% in October 2010 to 13.6% in February 2011).
On a personal level, +1’s are helpful in that you can receive input from people you trust when
searching online (ie. John thinks Coffee Shop X is great, maybe I’ll try it out). But, from a broader view this has a significant impact on brands, advertisers, publishers and many more. For brands, the +1 is integrated into the search algorithm to determine organic search rankings as well as Google’s Quality Score for paid placements. Bottom line, the more +1’s your content receives the better SEO juice it has (exactly how significant +1 is to Google’s algorithm has not been defined which is important). If you’re an advertiser through Google AdWords, the screen shot to the right is what the +1’s look like:
For a full overview of how the +1 button impacts Google AdWords check out this overview from the Google AdWords team.
And, finally, if you’re a publisher (or a brand for that matter) +1’s will soon be directly integrated onto websites (again – the same way 2 million sites have installed Facebook’s “Like” feature). The fact that news articles, videos, etc. can be seamlessly shared through Google is a very powerful thing.
Now – most importantly – why should you care?
The #1 reason you should care is simple: good content continues to win (how very Charlie Sheen). Google has made some nice strides of late to reduce the impact content farms have in gaming their algorithm. This is another step in that direction, with share-ability impacting search results. So, if you’re advising your clients on blogs or videos or infographics or any other whiz-bang content make sure it is good. This is essentially measurable word of mouth, or as Google calls it, word of click.
Secondly, customer loyalty increases in importance. If you can successfully rally a passionate group of brand advocates to not just view and engage with your content, but now +1 that content you are able to essentially use Google in a new way to – dare I say – make that content “viral” (I feel dirty using that word).
Thirdly, the +1 and “like” movement all together furthers the notion that the better way to target audiences online is through discussions not demographics. As information becomes increasingly fragmented online, consumers are able to cluster around certain topics quickly and easily. So, if the area you (or your client) specializes in is high end computer graphics, for example, you no longer have to ask yourself: what demographic is most likely to care about high end computer graphics? Instead, with tools like Google +1 (among many, many others) this audience – regardless of demographics – can share a wealth of information with each other. From a marketing perspective that becomes incredibly valuable because you can immediately reach the targeted audience that cares about your products, as long as you do so in an effective way (by delivering relevant content and encouraging sharing through brand advocacy).
Lastly, the earned media, paid media, owned media matrix becomes even more important for brands and marketers. At the end of the day, Google’s +1 gives the user even more power. In order to effectively market and communicate to these users, it’s important to reach them in a variety of ways (a compelling blog post, a New York Times write-up, a well placed paid advertisement, etc.) so that your brand’s point of view can break through and make a difference with the audiences you care about.
What do you think? Will Google’s +1 change the Internet as we know it? Or is it just another Google Wave?