So Google +1. There seems to be a lot of "buzz" about it recently, though it's been available (experimental) since March. Google is now unleashing a brand new wave of changes in their next evolutionary step. It's all apart of what they are branding the Google + Project. It has some great looking potential but currently it is inbeta and only open to invitation, which unfortunately has maxed out. What is publicly available is their "+1" button.

1. What is Google +1<br />So Google +1. There seems to be a lot of quot;
buzzquot;
about it recently, though it's been available (experimental) since March. Google is now unleashing a brand new wave of changes in their next evolutionary step. It's all apart of what they are branding the Google + Project. It has some great looking potential but currently it is in HYPERLINK quot;
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beta and only open to HYPERLINK quot;
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invitation, which unfortunately has maxed out. What is publicly available is their quot;
+1quot;
button.<br />So…<br />What is it?<br />The easiest way to explain is that it's a lot like facebook's quot;
Likequot;
button. It has differences but many are saying this is Google's direct competition with Facebook and they are attempting to overtake the HYPERLINK quot;
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social media giant.<br />How does it work?<br />You will need to create a Google profile. Your profile is visible to anyone in addition to all connections associated to your gmail address. Whenever you are signed in and you search Google you will see +1 buttons next to indexed HYPERLINK quot;
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listings. If you like something, you can simple +1 it from Google (see HYPERLINK quot;
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sample below) or from a web page itself (see share links to the left of this article).<br />Your +1’s are stored in a new tab on your Google profile. You can show your +1’s tab to the world, or keep it private and just use it to personally manage the ever-expanding record of things you love around the web. If you are logged in, your +1's will show next to listings you have +1'd before, so you can tell sites you prefer over sites you do not.<br />Why does that matter?<br />People are more interested in things that friends like or approve of. If I'm going to buy a new product., I'm more interested in what my friends think of it than a paid actor on a commercial. The point is to quot;
help people discover relevant contentquot;
.<br />How does this affect my traffic and search performance?<br />Google doesn't explicitly say one way or the other but what they do say is:<br />quot;
Content recommended by friends and acquaintances is often more relevant… Because of this, +1’s from friends and contacts can be a useful signal to Google when determining the relevance of your page to a user’s query. This is just one of many signals Google may use to determine a page’s relevance and ranking, and we’re constantly tweaking and improving our algorithm to improve overall search quality. For +1's, as with any new ranking signal, we'll be starting carefully and learning how those signals affect search quality.quot;
<br />I believe as Google continues to compete with Facebook, +1 will gain weight with search results.<br />Even if it turns out that Google decides that +1 will have no negative or positive effect whatsoever on queries, the amount of +1's and who they are from can play a big role in in tipping the scales for what users will click, read, buy, etc.<br />I would check out a site that has 200+1's over a site with none. Further still, I'd follow a link with a HYPERLINK quot;
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couple +1's from people I know than one that has more from people I don't know but still preferring both of them over a site with 0.<br />The Future<br />Google is very big and they have a lot of smart people on their team. They aren't infallible but I do think they are on to something with this, especially with their upcoming public release of the Google + Project . Don't be surprised to see that little +1 button more and more. So go ahead and get ahead and start using the +1 button. While you're at it, you should +1 this article.<br />http://www.gettopnotchwebdesigns.com<br />