Google has made another step toward social integration in its search engine, rolling out its Social Search for international users on 19th May. A Google Webmaster Blog post noted that the social search program, which was first launched in 2009, was finally being opened up for international users.
The blog post noted that the aim of the program was to boost social connectivity through search as well as increasing the relevance of individual search results.
The search engine’s social contribution has been tweaked over the years since its launch. Users who are logged in to their Google account will have results from friends’ pages boosted in the SERPs, and friends’ links and Tweets will also be promoted. The program sources networking data from user accounts, as well as publicly available information from Twitter.
The international roll out is another move in the play for social search dominance between Google and rival Bing. Bing has been steadily integrating social media features into search results over the last year, with notable moves including the integration of Facebook data to personalise and crowd-source search results.
Google’s international roll out of its existing social functions may not have a major impact on the search industry, but it is an indication that the future of search is social. This comes as no surprise to those in SEO careers, who have had an eye on the increasing importance of social networks for internet communications. This increase in social networks may also boost local search engine optimisation, as personal and local networks become more influential.
- What are the nuts and bolts of digital marketing? - September 10, 2020
- What is Google RankBrain and how do you use it? - September 9, 2020
- Three dos (and three don’ts) of writing great content - September 4, 2020
