Google Search Gets an Overhaul - Is it a Good Thing?
How Google Got Social.
The Google search engine has received a new face lift, one that has many in the tech industry wondering if it was a smart move or a huge mistake. Although Google has some amazing products and is the standard king of web search, they have also made some huge mistakes and come out with products that didn't quite catch on. Until now, they haven't integrated many of their other services into their search results, keeping their other products safely away from their big money maker.
Now, however, Google has Google Plus-ified their search result with the intention of making their search more social. With the new look, when you search for a specific topic, in addition to the typical results of links, videos, pictures and such, if you are logged in to Google +, you'll also find any Google + content.
This doesn't come as any surprise to me. I told everyone that Google + was going to be in the thick of everything ages ago. Even though it has been slow to catch on, I think that as more people sign up and begin using it with their web searches, it will become more popular.
The goal of the Google overhaul, aside from incorporating Google +, was to make search results more personal by understanding who you are and thinking about what you are really looking for. Honestly, I think it is a natural progression, because the thing that Google is really good at is taking the words you are searching and finding the results that are the most relevant.
Of course, not everyone is a fan of the new look. Twitter recently criticised Google for the Google + integration, basically saying that Google has an unfair promotional advantage and that these social search results featuring only Google + information will make it more difficult for people to find relevant Twitter results. That may be true, but Google hasn't ruled out making agreements with other social networking sites to add to their social search results.
It's still new and there's no telling how long it will take before everything is Google Plus-ified.
Do you use Google +? Why or why not? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for TechCareersBlog and Nexxt. Along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
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Melissa Kennedy •Thanks, Ender. I love social networking as well. I'm glad that Google has thrown their hat in the ring. -
Ender B •I'm really excited about Google's greater approach to social. I have been working with social search a lot recently. The more improved it is, the happier I'll be!
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