Back in January, Google snuck a new feature into their search results that remained overlooked by many of their users. The now infamous Social Search. Are you one of those that weren’t aware of the change? Watch this:
Well, last week, this new feature finally went live on Google globally. Despite many largely failed pushes into social media like Buzz, Orkut, and Wave under their belt, I personally believe that this is one move by Google that will stick, for one simple reason: it keeps Google within the confines of what they’re trusted to do, and do well- search. Need more evidence? Look how worried they’ve made Facebook.
With growing evidence being cited that social media is increasingly being made a part of natural ranking, the +1 button imminent, and now a feature that places URL’s shared in your social circle above many classic organic search results, SEO’s cannot afford to ignore social media in their optimization strategies any longer.