Google Steps into Social Media (again) with +1

What is  +1? 

Recently Google has added on to their Social Search functionality by adding a little box called +1 (pronounced Plus One) next to their search results. This button essentially allows users to recommend search results to their friends. According to Google, a select group of users will now see a  +1 next to search listings if they are logged in.

If you decide to click the +1 button, Google will alert your social network that you have +1’d the result. As more of the people in your social circle recommend the result, Google will show you the listings that your friends have endorsed on the search results page.

But why do we want to know what our friends have liked? Seeing results that your friends have recommended adds credibility to the search results as well as the website. This is no different than world of mouth, except on a much larger scale. "The primary benefit is that search gets better. It gets better in the user interface immediately, and we’ll look at it as a potential signal to improve search quality as well. I find social search extremely useful, especially with the recent updates. This change continues the evolution of social search, and it’s a natural progression to improve the search experience,” said Matt Cutts”

Google’s +1 for AdWords

In addition to adding the +1 button to organic listings, paid ads will also be included. This feature enables users to favorite ads and their preference will be shown to their social network as well.

How will this affect advertisers?

Right now it’s too soon to tell as this has not rolled out to the public, but Google has stated that:

• All ads will be getting these buttons
• There’s no way for advertisers to turn them off
• Clicks on the +1 button next to ads do NOT count as a paid ad click
• Advertisers will be able to see stats about which ads are getting the most +1s

What this indicates is that it is more important than ever to maintain an online relationship with your customers. As users get the options to favorite ads and listings, the more potential influence they have over their social networks decision process. Continuing to maintain an open dialogue with your customers online is key to fostering a positive relationship with your brand. Being accessible and open to criticism from consumers as well as praise will be essential to your social media strategy.

What constitutes the “social circle”?

Currently Google has comprised a user’s “social network” from their contacts on Google based services, like Gmail as well as connections on third-party sites such as Twitter. If you’re wondering who exactly is in your “social network” you can view your connections here.

When will I see the +1 button?

Not seeing the +1 button on your search results? Not to worry. For now, only a small percentage of Google users are seeing the button by default. If you would like to opt-in to the experiment now, turning on the +1 Button is very easy. Just select the option to join the experiment on Google Experimental and you’re good to go.

Want to know more? Check out a very detailed breakdown by Danny Sullivan on Google’s new +1 button and where it’s heading on Search Engine Land

plan, launch, cowabunga, repeat.

The career path for many of us is not what it used to be. Gone are the days of finding a good job and working your way up the corporate ladder for the next 25 years. There are no commemorative Rolex and most of us have to fight for 2 weeks of vacation. In response to this change in corporate culture is a change in the future generations' employment perspectives.  Our view has shifted from a more long term position to what will benefit us the most in the short term. What does the company have to offer us versus what can we offer the company. It's this shift that Seth Godin and Penelope Trunk discuss in the following two articles.

The first was from Seth Godin. I love him. He always speaks his mind and calls out the true motivator behind many issues. Seth talks about how 'Surfing is the New Career'.

"Freelance projects, joint ventures, entrepreneurial startups are all paying off for people who are hooked on this feeling of plan, launch, cowabunga, repeat. Each time you do it, you get to take on a bigger project, a bigger wave. The cost of wiping out is low (if you plan for it) and so you can do it again and again. You don't even have to be solo... now there are teams and corporations that seek out people who want to surf their way through fundraising or product development or customer delight."

I agree, we're adrenaline junkies. We like that high of completing a successful project and getting ready for the next one, but it's hard to do repeatedly unless you have a boss that gets it. I think that many of us get caught under middle management and productivity is easily stifled by red tape and personal agendas. That said, we don't have to let that happen. We can fight to assert ourselves and our projects and prove to the company that your ideas will be profitable. Make them money. You're just going to have to negotiate the politics and get a sponsor to make it happen.

The second article is also very timely. While I've always been trained to think that being considered a 'job hopper' is bad, this article makes me feel as though maybe I'm not insane.

"You can’t job hop if don’t add value each place you go. That’s why job hoppers are usually overachievers on projects they are involved in; they want something good to put on their resume. So from employers’ perspective, this is a good thing. Companies benefit more from having a strong performer for 18 months than a mediocre employee for 20 years. (And don’t tell me people can’t get up to speed fast enough to contribute. Fix that. It’s an outdated model and won’t attract good employees.)"

I would love to stay in a company for 5+ years but to be honest, I don't see that happening. Is this my lack of commitment, mediocre performance and general ambivalence you ask? No, not at all. There is nothing more rewarding than working my butt off with a team to build out a company and products; unfortunately it's not usually a two-sided relationship. You give, they take. Maybe they'll throw you a couple thousand dollars, maybe if you're lucky you'll be promoted but in general, they like to keep you where you are. The only way to really advance and learn new skills is to go elsewhere, otherwise you'll be given more responsibility without fair compensation. I've always liked the reasoning that you must be replaceable or you won't move up (not to be confused with 'bad & replaceable'). If no one else can do your job they're going to keep you there. Don't be too good at what you do.

Nothing says we've got it together like 6 completely unrelated logos...

AOL or Aol. whatever the sinking giant wants to call itself created 6 new logos back in the fall. Apparently I started to comment on it but never finished. For those of you that missed it, here are Aol.'s new logos. They make me laugh. What makes me laugh even more was that their rebranding effort was spearheaded by Armstrong's former administrative assistant at Google. Ok, so maybe I'm just jealous because she's my age and already Chief of Staff, but seriously, it's going to take a little more than changing the titanic's name from AOL to Aol.

Looking a whole lot like LOL.

See the logos!

p.s. - wtf is that thing?

the music made me do it

i should have posted this months ago when i first got hooked on this kick ass bomb diggity website but i've been slacking and ignoring my little blog for a while so i'll tell you about it now.

you like music right? you like mix tapes, yeah? you like finding new music AND making mix tapes?

then you're going to love this.

I found 8tracks through Twitter of all places and fell in love immediately. 8tracks is a kind of social network that allows people to upload & share music in the cloud. We make mixes either from music in network or from tracks that we upload as individual users and then publish them for everyone to enjoy. You can 'favorite' tracks from others mixes and 8tracks will keep track of them for you. It also suggests other mixes that you may enjoy inevitably linking you with someone who has similar music tastes as you. There's something similar to Facebook's newsfeed that lets you follow other users and 8tracks will alert you to new mixes they've published. It also allows you to 'Like" mixes (which saves them for you) and make comments on your friends creations.

There are a few rules for making mixes though but they're easy to follow and personally, for free music I'm down with whatever you want me to do. So here are the rules, a mix must have at least 8 tracks and it can only contain 2 songs from the same artist. Other than that you're good to go. Fast, easy and super fun. I really haven't gone a day where I haven't logged in to 8tracks when I'm at work.

So go check out 8tracks now, you can start with some of my mixes. Let me know what you think.

Look what Google did...

So let's just just talk about this for a minute because it took me completely by surprise. I know Google has been doing lots of little things with personalized search and it's definitely had an effect on my SERPs so I try not be logged in when I google but sometimes I forget and now, look what Google did -
















Results from my social circle?? I was looking for this freelance site that I can never remember to bookmark and Google gave me an ORGANIC listing from Propeller Media Works looking for a freelance flash designer.

Now would I have gotten this result if I weren't signed in? If I had remember to log out of my gmail acct before I searched for the site would I have seen the same listing on the SERP? Let's see....

Nope. The listing is gone. As soon as I logged out of my Google account the PMW listing disappeared.

So is it no longer relevant? Or can Google just not access my Gmail addresses and recognize similar names? That's a little creepy Google. I'm not sure how I feel about this. I do, however, want to Google lots of other terms and see who else shows up on the page.

Wow Google Wow.

Oh, and apparently Propeller is looking for a Freelance PHP Designer if anyone is interested.

Google Thinks I Should Buy a Lotus

Google alerts are awesome. With so much content constantly being published, updated and indexed it's difficult to stay on top of everything and monitor the online conversations so Google has mades that easy too, with Google Alerts.

I have a few that I get every day and one of them is my name. Yes, I have a vanity Google Alert, but how else will you know what your name is being associated with regularly? This little alert has proved tremendously helpful; it let me know when my interview was published on PPC Hero before they did, it informedme when my Behance portfolios were indexed and when my Twitter & Facebook profile became a search result, of a celebrity that ranks for my name (Salli Elise Richardson from Star Trek), and it even lets me know when my name has been included (unauthorized mind you) in professional directories.

Over the years I seen some funny alerts delivered to my inbox but this one made me smile and I thought I'd share. Usually these alerts include posts about honor students, the star trek celebrity, past work I've done or another Elise on Facebook but today Google sent me an ad for a Lotus for sale in Texas. To be fair, Google's only matching the terms I've entered against content on websites and this post is legit. If I were a little robot I too would think this were a relevant entry.

Now I love me a Lotus Elise but I think it may be time to include negatives in anything that requires us to enter keywords. How else can you further determine user intent and relevancy? Google has trained us to think about the words that we want our returned results to reflect, I think it's only fair that we should also be able to specify the terms we do not wish to match to as well.

As search marketers negatives are a standard in our campaigns. Advertisers tell Google whom they don't want as customers but as consumers we don't get a choice. I can't tell Google that I do not want to be served an ad for 'Sneakers Bistro' if I searched 'sneaker shoes in burlington vt'. I have to do the search again.

'Then don't click on the ad' you say? Well I shouldn't have to. That ad is taking up valuable real estate for an advertiser that I do want. Just because Sneaker's SEM doesn't know about negatives isn't my fault. Why should I have to search again just because they can't effectively target? hmmmm?

In this keyword based internet world I think it may be time to introduce the negative to the public. Maybe in the Advanced Search option - let's add 'what I'm not looking for' fields, just to weed out the crap (especially the companies that can't/won't geo-target). I don't want to thumb up or down a search result - organic or paid, I just want the right result, click and go. Easy.

And while I'm making Google requests do you think I can't get only mobile websites on the SERP for my smartphone? Really, we gotta talk about this.

I'm sure Google will solve this eventually but in the meantime I'm still going to add the '+' to the end of my query for exact matches on the results page :)

e

p.s. i'm a hot little car

Elise sits down with the Social Media Commando

Check out this interview with Joe Mescher, the Social Media Commando, about well executed design and how it affects seo, sem performance and conversions.