You’ve probably noticed the Facebook “like” buttons everywhere across the internet, and a lot of people are utilising them to share information with their friends. Now, in an attempt to become more social, Google has introduced the Google Plus One Button.

 You may have already seen in it on some sites without knowing what it is, you may have noticed it being used on this website:

So how does it work?

Essentially, it works in a similar way to the Facebook ‘like’ button; if you ‘like’ a blog posting or a particular website, you have the opportunity now to inform Google by pressing the +1 button. The thought behind it is that it gives an opportunity to provide trusted search results to ‘friends’ shared through your Google profile. Interestingly for website owners, a beneficial by-product of this linking is that It will modify the site’s search results, effectively pushing them nearer the top of the SERP.

It’s clear that Google’s intent is to evolve into a form of social media in direct response to Facebook’s advancement in the market, and this is more than likely just the beginning of many modifications you can expect to see from Google in the coming year.  We’ll be keeping our ear to the ground in order to evaluate and instigate any potential web development policies for the benefit of our clients in respect of this. Watch this space for future developments.