By: Arthur Cooper
Submitted: 2011-04-04 12:11:57 | Word Count: 664
Google has been making countless strides lately and the trend continues with the newly implemented 1 social networking tool. This new social networking tool allows Google users to recommend advertisements and web pages to friends and the general public. This venture will be Google’s biggest leap into the social networking genre. If we’ve learned anything from Google in the past, we’ve certainly learned that it doesn’t take long for them to get hold of a concept and run with it. Simulate Facebook’s Like button today, take over the entire social networking genre tomorrow. It’s the Google way.
I saw mention of the Google 1 button on several news outlets today so I decided to visit the actual source, Google, to see what it’s really all about. Here’s what I discovered thus far: As of today, Google 1 is just an experiment that one can volunteer for. Just go to google.com/experiment and join. Google’s explanation of the 1 experiment is as follows: Use 1 to give something your public stamp of approval, so friends, contacts, and others can find the best stuff when they search. Get recommendations for the things that interest you, right when you want them, in your search results.
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Your 1 will be displayed in a tab on your Google profile and it will also be made public. Your personal 1 may be viewed in Google search results and sites all across the web. Google is currently working to fix the kinks with the new 1 implementation so don’t be alarmed if the button appears then disappears in search results. It will likely take a while before the button is up and running smoothly.
In order for 1 to be an active tool for you, you must first create a Google profile. This Google profile is what helps others to see who’s making site recommendations. You are not forced to have your 1’s be publically apparent. You have the option of making your 1 tab private as you keep a personal index of those things that you find cool or worthy of revisiting.
Earlier this year Google implemented a feature that allowed users the ability to see which friends tweeted various links on the search engine. This development takes the ability to see links to another plateau. With 1 you can essential share your preferences and opinions with the world. One can only imagine the developments that will come along with 1. Soon enough there will be ranks for the most trusted 1 opinion and users will gain popularity in different social sectors as a result of 1’s alone.
Can’t you just see what this could for search engine marketing (SEM)? This could potentially take the rankings of pages from sophisticated Google algorithms and put page rankings into the hands of the public. The more 1’s a page, business, advertisements, links have the higher it appears in search results. The possibilities of this new feature are overwhelmingly exciting (and a little scary, actually).
I do believe that 1 is well on its way to changing networking, advertising and SEM as we know it. My advice, business owners, would be to buckle up this is going to be one heck of a ride.
