| L2T Media

NEWS

Digital News: Worldwide Social Search Gives Google New Look

May 23, 2011 by Gretchen McKibbin

Google’s Social Search function was first introduced in 2009 as an experimental feature designed to bring searchers more relevant information through people they have connected with on social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Google Buzz, etc).

This feature highlights related posts and shared links from friends in Google’s standard web search results. The idea behind social search is to connect users with not only more relevant information, but also more people.

Now, Google has announced the expansion of Social Search to more users all around the globe.

*Can you hear the people cheering?*

As of recently, Social Search results can be found in other languages and on other domains throughout the results page, placed according to relevance. You’ll find pages or blogs created by friends from all around the world and also shared links from places like your friend’s Twitter feed.

So what does this mean for L2T and online search? We start to see a great potential for non-branded search terms.

For example, searching “Chicago digital agency” brings me several posts about L2T Media created by my colleagues on Twitter, Facebook and the L2T blog. Had I not been connected to these people on various social networks, I might not have otherwise heard about L2T during that specific search.

*The red highlights social search in action*

Because of Google’s Social Search, I am introduced to L2T Media through posts shared on various sites. Also, seeing my friends’ endorsement of the company will encourage me to check out L2T over other agencies I might have found.

In taking this function global, Google is opening up search results to reach a much broader spectrum. By eliminating language barriers and not limiting results by country, this global tool could really transform online search.