A few months ago when Google+ was introduced to the world, I managed to get an invite and within 24 hours I was a Google+ fan. I liked the layout, the options regarding privacy. I felt it has real potential as Google starts to integrate some of its popular products into its new social network. I was left with one lingering doubt about Google+. What was it doing that Facebook did not do?
The answer to that question has been answered in the form of Search+. This is a new option for people searching on Google, to be able to get more personalized results.
You will be able to see options to toggle between personal and normal search results on Google with a single click. This change will be rolled out for everyone over the next couple of days.
Google+ will be heavily leveraged as posts and photos will show up along with related pages, profiles and probably latest updates on that topic by Google+ connections.
Google+ has been promoted by integrating it on Gmail and Google Reader. But the big fish for Google has always been search and now with its integration into Google+ might just give Google’s social network a big booster shot it needs.
Here is a video of the new feature rolled out on Google Search:
If I search for a friend on Google, usually I do get results for LinkedIn profile or a Twitter account and even Facebook. All that might change in the future with Google+ being pushed forward a lot more in Google results. This might be a great idea of Google but it might cause some headaches to Twitter and LinkedIn.
What are your views about social search in general and personalized search in Google in particular? Do drop in your comments.