Google has just socialised search. It seems search lacked the personal touch and in one deft move effectively Google has revealed its ace hand in the social wars. Google+ will be the winner here.
“We’re transforming Google into a search engine that understands not only content, but also people and relationships,” explained Google fellow Amit Singhal.
Effectively Google is introducing three new features: Personal Results that allows users to find information related to their Google+ photos and posts; Profiles in Search of people you’re close to or might follow; and People and Pages, which help users find people profiles and Google+ pages related to a single topic
Socialising search
It’s a rather bold move that puts Google+’s stamp firmly on Google’s search empire and it will be interesting to see what social rivals like Facebook, Twitter and LinkdIn will make of this upheaval.
“Together these features combine to create ‘Search plus Your World’. Searchis simply better with your world in it and we’re just getting started,” Singhal said.
In the Google blog, Google’s usual cringe-worthy, fuzzy wuzzy collection of heartwarming examples of pets and vacations were used to explain how ‘Search plus Your World’ will work.
But the crux of the matter is ultimately how this latest set of changes to Google’s search engine will help Google+ to grow.
The search results with Google+ will provide searchers with the instantaneous ability to connect and communicate with people right from the search results.
If you do a profile search or a search for an individual there is also the ability to add them to your circles directly from the search page.
Another feature is the ability to search for a topic like football and see the Google+ profiles of the people who discuss the topic the most on Google+.
Google has imprinted Google+ on search and its numbers can only grow from here. I imagine Facebook is fuming right at this moment.
