Adding Google+ to Search

January 13, 2012 written by Liz

Google made some major waves this week (and I don’t mean Google Wave; that’s long dead) in both search and social with their introduction of “Search, Plus Your World.” Taking personalized search to a whole new level, Google will basically now integrate Google+ results whenever it can.

It’s a step that makes a lot of sense for Google. What better way to ensure more usage of its best social network yet (which might not be saying that much) than to let people, especially businesses, know that if they want to be found on the first page of search results—G+ is the way to go? Pages and profiles will obviously show up, but the major thing, and the part that has Twitter pretty pissed, is that relevant public posts will too. Remember how Twitter posts would appear for time-sensitive queries back when real-time search first launched? Well, Twitter didn’t renew that contract with Google, a point Google brought up when Twitter made a fuss about the announcement publicly. It was a little bit like overhearing a couple go through a bitter break up at a restaurant. And although it might seem a little monopoly-like or Internet overlord-ish, with Twitter not signing a new contract, and Facebook continuing its affair with Bing, Google really had no other choice.

Google+ membership has grown rapidly, but when it comes down to it, regular adoption/addiction at the level of its competitors just simply hasn’t caught on yet. This could be it. Now that all those people who created a Google+ account and forgot about it will be constantly reminded of it when they search—will it catch on?