Google Social Search
Over the years, we have all watched Google grow from a simple search engine, to the ultimate information broker. These days, businesses and organizations live and die by their Google ranking, and average everyday citizens occasionally Google themselves just to see what is being said…Heck, I’ve used Google to find out information on friends, old classmates, and enemies of all sorts! Now, the big G is taking that kind of personalized search to a new level by adding information from what Google calls your “public social graph.” This new development makes Google smarter than anyone you know…Smarter than Hawkins, Einstein, Obama, and maybe even smarter than your Mama! (ok… not your mom, we are sorry we said that!)
Big Brother – errr, I mean Google is building a database on you from several sources. They are taking everything they know about you from your Google profile, determining your connections with people and websites from various social networks (Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc), and then producing personalized search results for participants.
Why the heck does anyone need, want, or have any use for all this minutia? Have we become a world of busy-bodies? Well, businesses are salivating at the idea because this will add a very personal slash to SEO, finally fully linking the social media monolith with marketing and money.
Let’s explain it in some really basic terms: You are in Philadelphia and want to go out for a bite to eat. Using social search, you can find out what your friends have to say about local restaurants. Social search will look at who you are connected to, find out their comments on Twitter and other sites, and give you those thoughts. Instead of calling up Uncle Joe, social search will find his archived statements. The idea is that you and your friends (social connections) have similar tastes – so who they like will be someone you will like…
Before you begin to jump up and down/panic, Google can’t access any of this information without you and your social network’s a-okay. If you don’t want people to be privy to all your thoughts, opinions, ideas, and musings – you don’t have to sign-up. To be seen in others’ social search results you will need a Google account and profile, and add actual connections within your Google Profile. The more links you add, the more exposure you might potentially receive, proving that being popular does pay-off. By including the big three (FaceBook, MySpace, Twitter) and any personal sites, like your own website or blog, you will be diving into this big info-soup and making your opinion known to everyone! When adding these links, you are allowing Google to track your connections on the Web. You are giving them access to your biz-ness – so don’t come crying later!
Most people have the notion that Google Social Search will allow advertisers a greater ability to reach their target audience. If 9 out of your 10 tweets are about your love of ice cream, then that it’s fairly probable that you will be seeing some ads for Butter Brickle or Tutti Frutti (and hopefully, some ads for a few gyms too…) This happens a bit now with FaceBook advertising, but Google’s new scheme will undoubtedly unleash the whirlwind.
If Google integrates Social Search into the main search results, the number of online connections you have established will clearly impact any search results. The more connections you have, the more rich and potentially relevant the data you will be getting back. That’s why it is important right now for any person or business – who wants to be part of this information revolution – to build a strong social network profile. Make yourself the “Big Man on the Internet Campus” – find all your coworkers, classmates, cronies and codependents.
Google Social Search also encourages businesses and organizations to interact more with consumers via social media. If your restaurant or retail operation has a solid and engaging presence in social media – it will only increase the discussion amongst your friends, fans and followers. This will in turn bring the business higher up in search results, especially if it is connected with as many fans and followers as possible.
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Will Leger
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Brian Hamlett