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It's unclear what the user gains by clicking on a +1 button. Clearly my friends won't see my recommendations because Google doesn't connect me to them. They sh

It's unclear what the user gains by clicking on a +1 button. Clearly my friends won't see my recommendations because Google doesn't connect me to them. They should just come out and say "listen, we know search is broken. We need your help to fix it! Click on this button when you see something you like on the web." Position it as a passionate call to arms to all google users. Right now it feels like a boring press release.

rsoto 15y ago
Google doesn't think that the search is broken, so they aren't looking for fixes. And even if they were, the +1 button would be a heaven-sent for spammers, so that's not the fix they're looking for.
Lewisham 15y ago
Google does connect you to social graphs it can see: http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer=1067707 http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer... I wouldn't say that +1 is saying "search is broken" at all. It's just another signal.
- mtgentry 15y ago
  Re: the social graphs, I should have said that for me personally, my friends aren't on any of those services so that's why it isn't relevant. I'm saying +1's main reason for existence SHOULD be to fix search. And they should say as much. A better search experience is a much more valuable thing than friend recommendations.
jnhnum1 15y ago
Your friends will see your recommendations, if they're relevant. You won't spam your friends by clicking +1 all over the place, but if your friends happen to be searching for something relevant to what you've +1'ed, I believe they will show up.
losvedir 15y ago
Hmm... the user could potentially benefit from better search results. This is, of course, being positioned as a social "like"-type button, but it definitely could have benefits individually, as well. Imagine if Google looked at the history of your +1's, compared it to other users', etc, and improved your search results that way.

rsoto 15y ago

Google doesn't think that the search is broken, so they aren't looking for fixes. And even if they were, the +1 button would be a heaven-sent for spammers, so that's not the fix they're looking for.

Lewisham 15y ago

Google does connect you to social graphs it can see: http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer=1067707 http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?answer... I wouldn't say that +1 is saying "search is broken" at all. It's just another signal.

mtgentry 15y ago
Re: the social graphs, I should have said that for me personally, my friends aren't on any of those services so that's why it isn't relevant. I'm saying +1's main reason for existence SHOULD be to fix search. And they should say as much. A better search experience is a much more valuable thing than friend recommendations.

jnhnum1 15y ago

Your friends will see your recommendations, if they're relevant. You won't spam your friends by clicking +1 all over the place, but if your friends happen to be searching for something relevant to what you've +1'ed, I believe they will show up.

losvedir 15y ago

Hmm... the user could potentially benefit from better search results. This is, of course, being positioned as a social "like"-type button, but it definitely could have benefits individually, as well. Imagine if Google looked at the history of your +1's, compared it to other users', etc, and improved your search results that way.