Google Plus One – Google Recognizes Social Media

If you’re in the united states and other places around the world, you would have noticed a new feature when you using Google. Check out the image below. There is now a “+1″ feature next to each search result.

Known as Google Plus One, it allows users to “vote” on results. Google has recognized the importance of social media. In fact Matt Cutts one of the big wigs at Google has previously mentioned if he had to pick three things to focus on in terms of seo, social media would be one of them. The theory behind plus one is that the more people that vote or “plus one” a result, the result will more likely be of higher value to users. It’s very similar to Facebook. If you’re searching for a great place to eat, if a lot of your friends recommend a restaurant you’re more likely to go visit that restaurant. The same theory with Google Plus One.

Here’s a video explaining Google Plus One:

My personal opinion is that this will be able to be manipulated. Only time will tell if this will affect the search results rankings although I highly doubt it. But knowing Google, they are smart enough to stop this from happening.