Facebook’s uniquitous Like button is almost ready to celebrate its first birthday.  Yesterday, Google launched the “+ 1” button to search results in the U.S., bringing real time social recommendations to search results.  Essentially, pressing the button on the Google search result is a way for users to vote for the search result.  Unlike the earlier social search experiment run by Google, user recommendations will show up in the search results!

If you were Google, what would you do with such votes? If I were Google I’d have them play some roll in the ranking of search results.

Try Google +1 on your browser

Users with a Google account can turn on “+1″ in the Google Experimental settings for their account.

The new +1 button only applies to Google.com, not global domains that are forced on users browsers depending on where in the world they are located – ie: Google.ca.  Depending on your country of origin, you’ll need to force Google to show the default U.S. domain in your browser.  Try:http://www.google.com/ncr (ncr stands for no country redirect)

What +1 looks like

When your mouse hovers over the Plus one button it becomes a colourful icon that you click in order to make a recommendation.  +1 users will also show up in the search results of people in their plus 1 network.  When users like a search result, but are not in your search network, results will show the number of people who like the search result.

Users can even +1 Ads!

According to Search Engine Land the Plus One button will also show up in Google Adwords Advertising.  Get the FAQ’s on this at Search Engine Land.

Here’s How Google explains +1.

Social Buttons everywhere!
Google will be rolling out +1 buttons for users to add to their websites soon! Sign up for an invitation to add Google’s button to your Website.
Stay tuned, it’s going to get very interesting for all of us on the social Web. Will +1 buttons have the same cachet that Facebook Like buttons do? Will users begin to get bored or overwhelmed with the plethora of choices awaiting them to like, +1 and tweet their favourite brands on the Web?

This rocks.
If you are still not using Google services to enhance the management of your tourism business, consider getting on board the G-train.
I’m delivering a training program in the fall that will be focused on helping tourism businesses streamline their CRM processes using the plethora of free tools on the Web, many that Google provides.

As a Gmail user, I’m already addicted to Google Calendars, Tasks and Documents – especially the free Google Forms tool which makes tracking inquiries and leads amazingly simple, but now, we can make free phone calls fromour computer right in our email client!

It’s as easy as clicking call phone from my google chat window and I’m making calls using my computer speaker and headset or built in computer microphone.

Watch out Skype.
I’m seriously thinking of dumping our expense for outgoing phone calls from the telephone and moving exclusively to Google calls within Gmail (free-for-now across North America and seriously cheap around the world).

Since the major telcos have been ditching their telephone booths, watch for someone like Google to come into your community and offer free services to fill the void.   For the 20% of North Americans who don’t carry a cell phone or for travelers in airports who don’t want to pony up the $2 bucks a minute to talk to folks overseas while they are traveling.

HECK, consider setting up a computer in your lobby and set it up with a Google account to provide free North American phone calls for your guests!  Now that’s something your ideal guest could really appreciate!

Be sure to hang a sign that says – “Tell your family and friends you are calling for free from – ‘YOUR Business Name’ “.

In the process, you might recruit a few new fans.

Google Real Time Search:

Today we see what Google has been working on with Real Time Search.  Integrating search results from Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and other news feeds, Google search results show a small scrolling bar of results.  The importance that Google attributes to the real time results determines how high the scrolling real time results display.

Try it yourself at http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en&esrch=RTSearch

Links:

• Marissa Mayer introduces Facebook and MySpace to the real space inventory of searchable data.
• Google also introduced Google Goggles for Android phones. In it’s infancy, Goggles will make your head spin with the possibilities for the future of Visual Search.

Google has identified over 100 000 businesses in the U.S. as “Favorite Places” based on user reviews on Google Maps and they have rewarded them with QR Stickers – Window Decals like the one below.

When snapped with a smartphone camera the two dimensional bar code hyperlinks to the business Google Listing which shows the user reviews and Google Map listing for the business. (Learn more about What is a QR Code and Why you should know)

In related news, starting today on Google’s local site for handheld users, Google provides top-level search categories like restaurants, shopping, gas, lodging, etc. on the front page. Click that button and you’ll see the closest-by search results ranked by user rating.

New Business Interest for Google

Encouraging guest reviews is vital to any business success and although Google Maps reviews have been around for quite a while, the new sticker campaign is a not-so-subtle brand builder for Google Maps revealing yet another business interest – Google  business reviews.  For businesses, Google uses the sticker campaign to ask: “Want to become a Favorite Place on Google?“, reminding business folk to ensure that their listing on Google Maps (aka Google Local) is accurate in the Google Local Business Centre.  Never mind that you’ll be increasing the accuracy and value of Google Maps database in the process.

Guest Reviews Matter

If I were TripAdvisor (fresh with a new restaurant review iPhone app) or Yelp whose iPhone app which beckons reviews on all kinds of businesses, I’d be more than a bit concerned about these stickers.    Each has worked hard at building recognition for their own brands as the de facto standard in ranking businesses.  Of course Google has been in the business of ranking all kinds of businesses online for much longer (search engine rankings) and have established considerable consumer trust.  Expect the sticker campaign to raise the importance of Google Maps reviews in the eyes of many.

Brand Building by Association

Association with a well respected brand is an excellent marketing strategy.  Businesses that link to their TripAdvisor reviews, or have an app in the Apple iTunes store know this well.  For the “Favorite Business of Google” sticker recipients, just having the sticker on the window is likely to encourage even non-smartphone users to form a favorable opinion of the business.  After all, folks may know about TripAdvisor or Yelp, but most everyone has a generally favourable opinion of the Google brand.

Learn more about Google’s QR Code gift to Favourite Places.

What do you think about Google’s QR stickers.  Do you think it will catch on?

Google Friend Connect adds some social sauce with new Gadgets but there are better options to serve the needs of your ideal guests. This post addresses a few of the new gadgets and better alternatives.

Friend Connect Widget

Google Friend Connect is featured in the side bar on this blog. Until now, Friend Connect Widget has just been a handy way to share your Google Profile Business Card with other Google members. I like the idea of connecting with other fans of Websites using Friend Connect, especially now that Google Profiles are becoming a central nexus for Social Search.

Better Alternative to Friend Connect: I still think Facebook Fan Boxes have a lot more to offer most people in the tourism industry. We use the Facebook Fan boxes on our Tourism Web site to instantly update content. Fan boxes have also attracted quite a few new fans to our Facebook presence.

Social Ribbon Bar

Google offered the Social ribbon bar a while back. I didn’t like it then, I don’t like it now.

Better Alternative: Steer clear of Ribbon Bars. (I also don’t like those Ow.ly tracking bars in Twitter Links folks! I want you to share the valuable links, not broadcast that you are tracking me!)

Interests Poll

Google Interests Poll on the surface looks like a nice social invitation to share your interests . . . . but the description is just too creepy for me to recommend.

The Interests poll helps Google Target Adwords

The content entered by users is added to their Google Profile. We all knew Google was tracking us, but Google doesn’t even give the Widget a description that focuses on the benefits of using the Interests Poll. The sole benefit seems to be to encourage users to generate social interactions so Google can glean more information from users.

Better Alternative: Not sure, got any ideas? This description certainly got me more interested in What Google Knows about me. It is interesting that Google also released the Google Privacy Dashboard so I can control these settings.

Newsletter Email News Sign up Widget

Newsletter Gadget is a valiant effort that falls short because it’s a few years late arriving on the scene. The gadget and associated Newsletter compose and send tool allow users to create, send and manage your newsletters. Users can subscribe to your newsletter when joining your site or via the newsletter gadget. If you are just getting started with an email newsletter, this might be a good place to start. It’s free and looks simple to impliment.

Better Alternative: This service would be infinitely more valuable if one could merge your current email newsletter database into this one. It is also worth considering that in the age of blogs and feeds the best option for most people is the Feedburner Email Widget that I use on this blog to automatically send subscribers blog posts by email.

Event Invitations

The Event Gadget is another late offering from Google that replicates what has been possible with Facebook Groups and Fan Pages for years. With 300+ million users Facebook has a huge advantage over Google and this feature won’t help Google close the gap.

Better alternative: Facebook Fan Pages or Facebook Groups

Commenting Widgets

Google is including new options for using Google Connections to manage commenting on your blog on popular platforms like WordPress. Google also offers a sidebar widget to encourage visitors to leave comments. The nice thing about these comments is they can appear on every page across your site. In the end, you’ll determine if this widget is worth using. The jury is out…. and it’s you.

Google may have gotten this one right. Instead of commenting on the bottom of this post, leave a comment in the new Google Gadget at right and your comment will appear on every page of this blog. Now that is something that could add value for the ideal reader of this blog! Care to try it out?

Better alternative: full fledged commenting tools for blogs are done very well by Disqus

Google Explains the new features of Friend Connect:

Get Greater impact from Twitter on your Website Search Ranking:

Perhaps the biggest benefit of the recently announced Google / Twitter deal is that Google can now see all those links that are tweeted.

Links have always been the secret sauce for getting your Website to rise above others to the first page – or even the top of the first page of the search results. The image above says it all.

Turn your Website into a Blog to get the most of Twitter

GET BLOGGING! No matter what business you are in. Produce real time content that your community will love. The more you do it, the more you will benefit.

Here’s Why:

• Each Tweet is a Web page on a Website with high authority granted by Google – Twitter.com
• Using Twitter, people are helping Google rank Webpages in real time by linking to them.
• If your content is good, Retweeted links will produce more incoming links to your content.
• Links in Tweets can point to Webpages of all kinds but most tweeted links go to Blog posts.
• Tweets are generally about real time, current news and content. What is more tweet-worthy (if it’s not a word it should be – get with it spell checker): a Website that is updated seasonally or a Blog that is updated daily?
• Tweeted links may have higher time-sensitive value that degrades over time.
• Your Website is not likely to generate much interest if you tweet about it constantly.
• Blogs are platforms for producing link-worthy content frequently.

Conclusions: How Twitter can improve your Website Search Ranking

Blog posts that provide value to your twitter community by featuring news, podcasts, video, photos, stories can earn you considerably more link juice and lead to increased position in the Google Search results.

Links:

• Twitter and Google Partnership
• Using Social Media is a lot like flossing
• How to get any kind of media into your WordPress Blog
• Does your Website still look like it did in December 2008?

Time to review a little Search Engine Optimization, now that Google Shows Twitter Tweets in Search Results:

Twitter Status in Search Results

Just googled “Twitter Lists Embed” and to my surprise found Pete Cashmore’s Twitter Status in the search results. It looks just like all the other search results and shows up high in the list of first page results.

Google has adjusted their algorithm to drop in Tweets among other standard fare like videos, pdfs, blog posts, etc. in the first page of search results.

How is Google is figuring out which tweets to feature?
The same as all the other good content the search engine displays: a mix of keyword relevance and links.

But how to do you get links to your twitter status?

• Earn more followers in your community. Each follower is a link. Consider the keywords in your followers’ one line bio as a key to relevance.
• Get tagged in lists with relevant keyword attribution. Again, it’s not the number of lists you are in, but the company you keep that matters. There is likely some seo value in being tagged in small lists along with Twitter All Stars who have millions of followers, but it is likely more important to be linked among people with whom you share a keyword association.
• Have your tweets retweeted by others.

Knowing what to do to get your tweets into search results is easy, but like everything in Search Engine Optimization it’s doing the work in earning the links that mattters.

How to get links for Twitter SEO?

Produce relevant, great content for your community and/or find, curate and tweet about the good stuff that matters for your community. (Have you heard this before from me?)

Learn more:

• Twitter indexes people
• Twitter Lists: Don’t be greedy, be picky

Twitter Lists = People Tags

This week Twitter Lists spread across the Web and early adopters have created lists of the people on Twitter that matter most to them.

It’s very early in the people tagging game with Twitter Lists. But, link this new tool with last weeks news of partnership deals between Google, Bing and Twitter and the new Google Social Search tool and look out on the horizon and you can see where we are going.

Why being tagged in a Twitter list matters?

Twitters deal with major search engines Google and Bing allow the search engines to crawl the content produced on Twitter. The most important element for Google to define the relevance of Content has always been links. Twitter lists will be search engine link gold.

Interestingly, Twitter lists get urls that include the list makers name as well as the name of the list chosen.
ie: http://twitter.com/#/list/toddlucier/travel-canada is a list of Canadian Travel-related Twitter users I created.

A design element that clearly signals a nod to the SEO implications of the designated list pages is that Twitter is automagically puts hyphens into the list names.

Your Followers are Tagging YOU

Interestingly, much like saving Web pages on Delicious.com where the user defines the keyword relevance of the content (not the producer of the content), it is your followers who have the power to define the most relevant tags for you, by putting you and your Twitter identity onto a list.

Get your name on the List

If you want to be recognized as a top member of your tribe on Twitter Lists and benefit from the keyword value that goes along with it, there are a few things you should and shouldn’t do:

1. Focus on producing relevant quality content for your preferred audience.
2. Make lists that feature to top members of your tribe. By curating a great list of the top Twitters in your tribe you will be creating a page that is bound to get some SEO attention to your Twitter account in Twitter-related search.
3. Use keyword tags in your list names. ie: Don’t name a list – “My Twitter Buddies”. Using keywords will get your list more followers and your page more SEO attention.
4. Follow lists of people that are important in your tribe. This will link your Twitter identity to lists of relevant Twitter users. An important side benefit will be the stream of valuable incoming Twitter content.
5. Don’t ask to be included in a list – this doesn’t demonstrate your credibility (just your neediness to be recognized). When the urge strikes to ask to be included, refer to #1 above.
6. Refer others for lists. Check out the new Twitter list curation tool at Listorious makes it easy to suggest top Twitter folk. If the urge strikes to recommend yourself refer to #5 above.
7. Review your Twitter Profile and edit your one line bio to include a better description of the things you tweet about and the tribe/community you serve. Use keywords.

Links:

• Be Picky about Twitter Lists
• How to create a Twitter List (Mashable)

“Everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than distant things.”

The First Law of Geography according to Waldo Tobler is also a key component in Googles algorithm to determine search ranking. Google looks at how closely search phrases are spaced in the search box, and on the page, as well as how closely linked the searcher is geographically to the search results (among other things).

So it should be no surprise that Google can now provide search results based on how closely you are connected to people. Social Search, a new Google Labs tool, brings your social circle (and the Web content they create) into your search results.

We’re more connected to people than ever before

A longstanding belief is that there are six degrees of separation between any two people on earth. Start with the people you are connected with, move on to the people your friends are connected with, and within six people you can connect any one on earth.

According to research, the social Web has helped connect us in ways like never before. According to the study, the average person is now connected by just three degrees within a shared “interest” or social group instead of six.

Social Search provides two degrees of relevant content in Search Results. Starting with the people you are connected with, Google Social Search stretches out your personalized social search index to include the people your friends are connected with to form your extended social circle.

What Social Search Does

Social Search makes use of your extended social network to help you find relevant information faster.

Using Google Social Search:

With Social Search turned on, Google highlights relevant social search results at the bottom of the first page of search results. The results may be Websites, blogs, restaurant reviews, comments, even 140 character Twitter Posts.

In my use of the social search by turning the feature on in Google Labs, I found search results appearing from a wide variety of people I’m connected with and from people my extended social circle.

Some of the search results I encountered:

• Web pages by people I’m connected to on Twitter
• Twitter status updates
• results from feeds I’m subscribed to on Google reader
• blog posts by friends of people I’m connected with on Friendfeed
• Google Chat friend links.
• Youtube videos and Flickr photo libraries

How Social Search Works:

Social search results are taken from the public Internet.

Google uses your connections across Social Web sites defined in your Google Profile. Google indexes the links provided in user profiles and the content it can see in these social networks using the same algorithm it uses for standard search. Interestingly, Google as of now cannot see Facebook content, only the people each user is connected to.

Google social search connects the links between people and the content they create all over the Web to provide personalized trusted social search results.

Your Social Circle & Knowing Their Content

The Magic behind Google – Links:

1. From my Google profile, Google sees I have a friend on Twitter
2. That friend links to their blog in their Twitter profile
3. Google links that blog to my social search world.
4. The friend’s blog has a link to their Youtube account
5. Following the links, Google could also include this Youtube account videos in my social search results.

Check out Google Social Search

To use social search, you will need a Google Profile, which identifies the social networks you are a part of. Learn more about Google’s Profile pages and their importance to your tourism business.

The more people you are connected to, the more places your content will show up in Social Search.

Social Search is one more reason for Travel Industry peeps to GET CONNECTED.

Homework:

• Update your Google Profile.
• Be Social: Work your networks and follow people who give good advice or who share similar interests.
• Add a Google Friend Connect Widget and/or Facebook Fan Box to your blog to grow your network.
• Update your profile across all your social services to include keywords.
• When you post content, comment or engage in social media use your keywords and speak the language of your extended social circle.

Relevant Links:

• Google Profile and Facebook Connect Game Changers
• Google Search results to feature Twitter Tweets
• Six Degrees of Separation is now Three
• Social Search on SearchEngineLand

At Web 2.o Summit Marissa Mayer, (Google CEO) opened her short presentation with a curious statement:

Listen for yourself…. (it’s only 15 seconds)

After announcing Googles partnership with Twitter, Mayer said,

“We will be featuring their tweets in our search results, as well as building a real time search ummmmm . . . ” Then she changed the subject.

Suffering Succotash. What is Mayer biting her tongue about? Is a Google Real Time Search Engine on its way?

I think so. And I can’t wait.

For Twitter, it’s about Revenue

At the time of the announcement (and for over a year before) the big question had been how Twitter will earn revenue. So opening up tweets to Google search could be big for Twitter financially. Google could run the revenue side by continuing to run adwords alongside tweets and share a slice of revenue with Twitter.

But according to Evan Williams – (@Ev) the deal with Google isn’t about money. What’s it about then? For Twitter, social search will bring tweets into the mainstream. Will Twitter have to figure out their own advertising model? Possibly.

For Google, Twitter completes the Social Circle necessary to provide a more comprehensive Social Search tool.

Everyone is smiling, but no one quite as much as Marissa Mayer (@marissamayer)who tweeted after the announcement –

Google and Twitter!! Yay!! http://bit.ly/183svN

Using Google Profile as the base for defining social connections, Google yesterday released Google Social Search into Labs. Social Search features all kinds of trusted social search results (including Twitter Tweets) that are distinct for each user and strongly influenced by connections between people.

Bringing Twitter into the social circle of available links to draw upon opens the door to a more impressive Real Time Search application in the near future.

Until then, learn more about Google Social Search

• http://www.tourismkeys.ca/blog/2009/10/google-makes-search-social