Libby Malcolm is a Senior Digital Producer
with Advertising Energy.
So, let me get this straight: with all those very clever employees at Google, their latest tool “+1″ is designed to rank content better than Google’s algorithms do today. And the intelligence they are using for this tool is… people?
Well, I'll be.
Google's partners have leaked that the Google +1 Button for publisher websites will be launched today.
We understand that the "+1" button allows users to vote for content similarly to Facebook's "Like" feature - only this is "Liking" on steroids because the popularity of your page relates directly to how your page is ranked on Google.
Whether today's announcement is that +1 is part of a suite of Addthis tools or a stand alone button is yet to be understood.
We do know it is planned as a button on the Chrome tool bar thanks to an ad that Google ran accidentally previewing this feature on the Toolbar back on 4 May.
Either way, it begs the question: Will we see '+1 This to Win!' promotions all over the web from tomorrow? Urgh! I shudder at the thought. That would surely skew Google's organic results and reduce user trust in the Google algorithms. That said, the sites that are this unimaginative in their approach are unlikely to be "+1ed" (did I just create a new word?) just as 'Like us on Facebook to win!' is synonymous for Social kitch.
So tell me, will you be swapping your Like button for Google's +1 Button ? I will.
I have to say loving the challenge this provides for content creators. Your content is going to have to be outstanding to compete. And so it should be.
