Google announced its rival to Facebook’s Like with it’s very own +1 button. The idea isn’t anything new, it works very well for Facebook. But whenever Google ventures into the social space, I get nervous. Google has had a tough social ride from Orkut to Wave to Buzz, etc.

Valuable than Facebook Like

On a more positive side, it can offer more value than the Facebook Like. On FB, I’m inundated by what my friends like. With +1, I get the market’s reaction on things I actively search for.

Wait, when I find something, I go back to +1?

But I’m not sure about the current interface. How many times would people go back to the search page to give a +1, especially if they found very good content? It’s more likely they hurry back if they find horrible content… hence the argument for a -1 button. Perhaps +1 should be added to Google’s toolbar to make it more meaningful.

Possible improvement to Adwords Quality Score

From an Adwords perspective, Quality score is a much convoluted issue. Perhaps +1 can simplify it by making the whole notion of Quality Score more transparent.

Try +1 for yourself

You can try +1 in the  Google “experiment” (is it just me, or is this Google tech-talk getting tiresome?) Also as a webmaster you can sign up for +1 for your site when it becomes available.