Google Launches Social Search Experiment
Google Launches Social Search Experiment.
The Social Search Experiment feature that Marissa Mayer announced last week is becoming available today for everyone to try. Google Social Search promises to help users “find more relevant public content from your broader social circle.”
The premise is simple: people value their acquaintances’ content more than that of random strangers. So Google Social Search brings content from your social circle to the forefront, perhaps showing a friend’s or coworker’s take on a restaurant rather than (or in addition to) whatever the local newspaper reviewer had to say.
On the Official Google Blog, Maureen Heymans and Murali Viswanathan explained, “The way we do it is by building a social circle of your friends and contacts using the connections linked from your public Google profile, such as the people you’re following on Twitter or FriendFeed. . . . If you use Gmail, we’ll also include your chat buddies and contacts in your friends, family, and coworkers groups. And if you use Google Reader, we’ll include some websites from your subscriptions as part of your social search results.
Appearing in social search results means:
1. Make sure you have all of your important links on your Google Profile.
2. Make as many connections as possible.
3. Encourage customers to follow you via social networks.
4. Participate in social media so people will engage with you.
5. Encourage sharing of content (there are plenty available social media buttons)
6. Include social network info on business cards/signage, etc.
7. Include social network info in your online advertising
8. There are probably many more worthwhile tips (if you have any, share them in the comments).
