How do you believe Google's +1 service is going to affect SEO? What can we do?

[Tom-Anthony]

So Google just announced the +1 button, which is there answer to Facebook 'likes' button:

http://searchengineland.com/meet-1-googles-answer-to-the-facebook-like-button-70569

http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/30/google-plus-one/

They should begin showing up now on Google US. If you aren't seeing them, you can turn them on here:

http://www.google.com/experimental/

I want to know? What affect do you predict these are going to have? Is there anything we can do from an SEO point to begin leveraging +1 right from the outset?

[JordanJudson]

Aside from adding the +1 button to your sites I doubt it will be that big. Most of Google's attempts at adding social features don't ever take off like they do for Facebook or other sites. I imagine the effect will be similar to that of how Facebook likes affect search engine results. It will help but not too important of a factor.

[Tom-Anthony]

I agree about Google's previous efforts, however I think +1 is finally going to be their breakthrough. They are going to push it hard, and unlike the other efforts, there is no real effort from the user to learn about it. I mean - most people never bothered to try to understand Google Buzz, whereas the concept of a 'like' button is really simple and widely known.

Currently, you cannot embed them into your website (it is coming, but not for 'months'), so that aspect isn't yet in play.

If you consider this - Google know that social is becoming increasingly important and is going to keeping growing. Furthermore, they seemed to have reached a limit with using links to determine what results to show, and are in need of new signals.

Everyone knows social signals are becoming more important, and Google really doesn't want to be relying only on signals under the control of others. I think +1 is here to stay, in one form or another.

However, currently you can only +1 a site from the SERPs, so it makes it hard for companies going to leverage this. Yet, I'm sure people will find a way.

[MaryAnneG]

From the Google Adwords blog adwords.blogspot.com  (emphasis mine):

"You don’t have to make adjustments to your advertising strategy based on +1 buttons, and the way we calculate Quality Score isn’t changing (though +1s will be one of many signals we use to calculate organic search ranking)."

So it definitely IS going to be used as a signal.

And they're going to keep people from gaming this ... how?

[Tom-Anthony]

There are 2 aspects to consider when you discuss gaming it. The first is the effect it has on the SERPs for everybody, the second is for how it affects it for social users and what the effect on CTR is.

For the 1st, the answer is - the same way they do with links. Check for cliques, for lots of unused accounts +1'ining the same sites, etc. etc. We'll see how effective that is.

For the 2nd, one important fact is going to be you can't game people's networks. You can create a bunch of bogus accounts, and create +1 groups for circular +1'ing. However, none of that matters if you aren't in people's networks. Currently it seems that +1's only show up if at least one friend/contact has +1'd the site. Then you see the total count (see attached image), otherwise at it stands you aren't going to affect people's CTR (which itself will be a signal).

5wu4O

[A_Q]

Has Google +1 been rolled out on just google.com? It doesn't seem to appear on .co.uk

[CPU]

It has been rolled out to English Google.com but is due to be rolled out in time. Also only shows if logged into Google account so for many people they won't see it anyway.

[MBayes]

Excellent question.  The answer to this (at least for me) is that big statement you hear so often about the most important tactic and principle of SEO. Developing great , interesting and unique content.  Our entire SEO process is evolving to start with a creative approach, using content  and then moving to what I would call traditional SEO tactics.

The gaming concern is one we all share, but can not control.  We are hoping that by helping our clients develop better and more interesting information, 1+ will take care of it self.

[J.Marie]

I'm not sure I see the motivation for people to +1 something. For Facebook, social connection is a big motivator: people want their friends to see what they 'like'. How many people actually view other Google profiles like we do Facebook? Why would anyone use the +1 in Google? I think understanding the motivation might be a key to understanding how to leverage it better.