What’s wrong with Google’s new Social Search Feature - Google ‘Search plus your World’

Posted by Hayden Allen-Vercoe on January 23 2012
Filed in Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Social Media Marketing

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When Google makes a change, there is always an outcry, it’s a given – we just seem to see all the negatives and jump on them. In the world of Search and Social Media, any change is met with opposition – remember facebook’s last changes? Wait for Timeline to kick in….!

What we very quickly discover once we have calmed down, is the changes are generally to the benefit of the user.

Now the dust has settled on the launch of Google ‘Search plus your World’, I do still have some issues.

This is Google blending search and social and providing even more “personalised” results. A Google search that adapts to your own social media networks seems like a good idea, only this doesn’t do exactly what it says on the tin.

For Social Search to truly work, there needs to be an agreement with Google and Twitter and Facebook (and all other social networks). Currently there isn’t and I can’t see facebook handing over their social graph to Google anytime soon.

So, Google’s Social Search is a little bit unbalanced (OK, a lot). Plus one’s and G+ results springing up on SERPs. Which is great….

…but is it a true reflection on search? When did you last plus one? When were you last on G+?

I am in complete agreement with Mashable, who have stated Google ‘Search plus your World’ has come too soon.

Google should have done one of two things before launching their new integrated Social Search –

1) Dominate the social networks with G+. At least then there would be some relevancy to the results.
2) Find a way to work with other social networks to deliver an accurate form of search results,

Both are not going to happen any time in the near future.

Google ‘Search plus your World’ is a mouthful. A more precise name would be Google ‘You will use our new social network…Dammit’.

OK, still a mouthful, but this is where I am sitting on the new Google search.

However, We knew this was coming.

Google have been driven to creating a more social search for some time now. Everything is in place. The Google ‘Search plus your World’ feature will only apply when you are signed into your Google account, and even then you can refine the search to include or not include social pages.

What I like about Social Search is if I Google my mate Paul Handley, I get the Head of SEO for Orbital Media, rather than a musician, photographer or vicar.

I can see a lot of good in this new search, but without facebook or Twiitter’s involvement presently, I am worried about its relevancy.

The usual outcries of ‘The death of SEO’ have also followed this launch. Social search will not kill SEO, but we have to adapt.

Not using Google+ is now not really an option from a marketing / SEO point of view.

So, like it or not, we are going to have to embrace Google+. Share every post on your Google+ page and make sure you have Google+ buttons on your posts.

This new Social Search from Google is not going to kill SEO. Google do, however, mean business. They have created a Social Network that feeds into their search results. Eventually, more people will use G+ on a more regular basis and that’s when this search feature will come good.

It’s not SEO that needs to worry, we are OK there. Maybe, perhaps, we are looking at the death of facebook?

Don’t forget to add Orbital Media to your Google+ circles.