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Response Mine Interactive POV: Google +1

What is it?

The Google +1 badge is considered to be a direct response to the May 2011 partnership between Bing and Facebook, where users can now view ‘likes' and recommendations made by their friends on the Bing search engine. In the wake of its own failed deal with the social giant, Google has launched its latest endeavor into social media, but this time with a greater emphasis on search engine result page (SERP) ranking integration.

Google has made it clear that the quality of its search results is paramount to its continued success. Aggressive actions such as the recent crackdown on content farms and poor quality sites illustrate Google's attempt to keep quality a top priority. The +1 button is designed to aid these efforts by incorporating within the SERP the preferences and opinions of users you are connected with in hopes of boosting the relevancy of results.  Google claims that a +1 for a site will help it represent a higher quality relative to those sites without it, and can influence the organic ranking within the SERP itself.

There is no denying that Google's latest attempt at becoming more “social” will be monitored closely given its track record in implementing social features, but the real question is how much, if any, impact will +1 have on search rankings, and how companies should respond to it.

SEO Current and Potential Impact

The current SEO impact of the Google +1 feature is difficult to assess at this moment considering how new it is and how much attention it is receiving. Google has publically stated that the +1 button will influence search rankings, but the degree to which rankings will be affected is unclear.

Adoption is the key to +1's future. The impact can be wide-ranging and include:

• Significantly more personalized search results. For example, if you +1 a site, several pages from that site or similar sites might come up regularly in your search results.  With the amount of user data available to Google, there is a possibility that they would take what similar users +1'd and move those sites higher on your SERP.

• +1 included in the ranking algorithm more aggressively. Google might also recognize a site with more +1's as a higher quality site, and could alter the search results accordingly.

• The starting point to an integrated social media system within search, based off of multiple social destinations including Twitter. Considering Google's strong connection with Twitter, there's a variety of different ways Google could integrate the +1 button with tweets including seeing the number of times a link to the site has been tweeted right beside how many +1's it has received, giving the searcher a broader view of how popular the site is.

• Google has already made it possible to add +1 personalization on non-Google sites, encouraging website owners to add the +1 button directly on to their own web pages.

The potential for what the +1 button could mean for SERPs is up to the imagination right now, but many of these possibilities could turn to reality if the button is quickly adopted.

Google's David Byttow has stated  on the Google Webmasters Blog, "We'll also start to look at +1's as one of the many signals we use to determine a page's relevance and ranking, including social signals from other services. For +1's, as with any new ranking signal, we'll be starting carefully and learning how those signals affect search quality over time." in reference to whether or not the +1 will affect the search rankings. 

User Experience Impact

Will it change how the user interacts with the presented search engine results?

This will eventually impact all users using the Google search engine. To what degree is dependent upon several things. According to a +1  FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

• Everyone will be able to see the aggregated number of +1's for any search result whether you are logged on to your Google Account or not.
• The personal +1 showing specific friends who clicked on the result will only appear once you have signed into a Google Account.

Once signed in you will see the normal aggregate +1's as well the personalized annotations from people within your Gmail account, the people you have in your Google Contacts as well people you're following on Google Buzz and Google Reader.

Below is an example of a search result that has been +1'd by several users without being signed in:

Will content/search results that are +1'd have higher click-through rates?

There is no data available as of yet. It is anticipated from Google that there will be a higher click through rate. “Personalized annotations next to your page in search results may increase your site's visibility and make your site's snippet more compelling, which may in turn increase the odds that users will click through to your page.”

 Will it Work?

Whether or not Google's efforts with +1 will work depends almost solely on how well, and to what extent, it is adopted.  Facebook's “like” button works because a significant portion of internet users already use Facebook and their “like” button.  If Google's +1 button reaches that level of penetration, it will likely become a regular factor in its algorithm.

But how likely is it that they will reach such levels of adoption?  If you look at previous attempts at social media integration into Google search, you'll see that adoption levels haven't been high.  Google attempted to implement a social media network in the form of Google Buzz in February of 2010. It did not reach the critical mass required to hit mass adoption, though some aspects of it are still used in Google's Universal Search. 

Prior to that, in January of 2008, Google launched a service called SearchWiki in which users could move results up or down in their own results pages, add comments, remove listings, and even add your own listings.  Moving listings up or down is very similar to either clicking or not clicking the new +1 button.  Its adoption levels were so low that there is no significant part of that service being used any longer. Although users may have a proclivity towards adopting Google +1 at a slightly higher rate than SearchWiki thanks to Facebook “Likes” and other social voting sites becoming more mainstream in recent years.

Additionally, the current implementation of +1 has several challenges that Google will need to overcome.  Mainly, user behavior:

• Publishers have to adopt the +1 button directly on their site for users to click on (which can be a difficult sell to a well-established online presence) or
• The +1 button has to be clicked by the user on the SERP before they go to the website or
• When leaving the website, the user must go back to the SERP to +1 them afterwards

So, while the more technologically inclined groups are testing this and potentially implementing it due to the unknown potential impact it may have on their traffic, widespread adoption will be an uphill battle for Google.

Industry Impact and RMI's Approach

Google's implementation of the +1 feature is indicative of several industry trends that have been steadily transforming the Internet landscape. The reality facing the search industry is that search is becoming more social. Moreover, Google continues to tirelessly advocate quality and a better user experience. This sentiment, in conjunction with the necessity for Google to compete with Facebook's dominance of the social space, is the underlying motivation for Google's +1 project.

SEOMoz, at the 2011 SMX Conference, showcased compelling data regarding ranking factors. This research emphasized the growing significance of a social presence on performing well in Google rankings. The bottom line is: the impact of social media on rankings has been growing and will continue to increasingly influence ranking performance. In addition, the head of Google's Webspam team, Matt Cutts, has incessantly conveyed the significance of quality – precisely what the +1 feature and other social signals aim to show users.

The widespread adoption of +1 will be difficult for Google. Therefore, its impact on the formation and execution of Response Mine's search engine optimization strategy will be focused more on proactively testing the feature out for search impact and helping our clients be prepared to address this when necessary. However we should not ignore the growing importance of social signals and their perceived impact on quality. As an agency, portraying quality to search engines and users alike using a multitude of signals will always be at the forefront of our approach to Search Engine Optimization.

What Do SEOs Believe Will Happen With Google's Use of Ranking Features in the Future?

Graph by SEOMOZ