Google’s Social +1 Button – UK Update

It has finally arrived – Google +1 is here….but is it here to stay?

Google has had us all waiting with baited breath over the past few weeks in anticipation of its new function, the Google +1 button. Well, now it is finally here we will all be able to sink our teeth into it and really assess its pro’s and con’s.

As the Google +1 has just launched this week (Wednesday 1^st June 2011), it seems appropriate to write a short update on our previous blog ( The New Google +1 Button – What does it mean for Searchers, Webmasters and Advertisers?) which goes into great detail on the why’s, how’s and wherefores’ of this new internet ‘phenomenon’.

Apparently Google’s answer to the Facebook ‘Like’ button, Google +1 went live yesterday afternoon in the UK and all across the world. It’s aim is to generate a whole pool of data so each search result in Google can be more tailored and thus more relevant to the user. However, unlike the Facebook ‘Like’ facility where your ‘Likes’ are visible to others, it is still unclear as to how the +1’s will become visible to other users. Unless you specifically create a fresh network to allow users to view your +1 activity and then tell each person where they can find and view your data, as yet, there is no way of knowing; Unlike the ‘Like’ button which automatically shares throughout your network.

I want +1 on my site!

You can add the Google +1 button to your websites manually using the method below, by copying and pasting the following code into your site:

1. Place this tag in your head or just before your close body tag –

<script type=”text/javascript” src=”https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js”></script>

2. Place this tag where you want the +1 button to appear. In as many places on your site as you wish

<g:plusone></g:plusone>

If you do not have a website but would like to make use of the Google +1 button, there is an experimental search that you can opt into until the +1 is rolled out throughout the entire web. To do this, use the following actions:

1. Sign into your Google Account (you must have a Google account to join the +1 action)
2. Click on ‘Join this experiment’
3. Perform a search of something you are interested in
4. Click the new +1 button, and make your views visible

It will be very interesting to see in the next few days and weeks just how much this new facility will be implemented and exactly who it will appear to be benefiting the most.