Google Is Introducing the +1 Button

An anonymous reader writes "It seems Google refuses to give up and is trying to push once again its way into the social space by introducing a new feature called +1, which basically has the same functionality as the Facebook 'Like' button (share recommended content with other people)."

'Pure Infotech'

[improfane]

For a site that claims to offer pure information technology and then spams you with popovers to subscribe. Junk website waste of bandwidth.

For the real source, try google themselves [google.com].

Only your friends see your +1

[gurps_npc]

As stated IN THE ARTICLE, when you +1 something, only your contacts see it. So, if all your friends +1 something about the KKK, then you see it as highly ranked. But the rest of the world does not know how racists your friends are. When you +1 Obama = not a citizen, only your friends know see this and realize that they know a bunch of birther fools. Similarly, if you +1 GWB = failure, then only your friends see this and realize that they know you a bunch of commie fools.

Re:Only your friends see your +1

[macbutch]

Mmmm, yeah, except Google themselves say:

+1’ing is a public action. Anyone on the web can potentially see that you’ve +1’d content when they’re searching on Google or viewing content you’ve +1’d. For this reason, you should only +1 pages when you’re comfortable sharing your recommendation with the world."

Your +1’s may appear to anyone who sees the pages you’ve +1’d. However, we'll try to display your +1’s to people (specifically those in your social connections) who would find them most useful.

https://www.google.com/support/profiles/bin/answer.py?answer=1186915 [google.com]

Re:Google doesn't get it

[Rary]

Why can't Google understand that I simply do not want to broadcast my searches to the world? I have been trusting Google with that information. If they want to use my click-throughs as part of their search algorithms, that's fine. But why do they want me to attach my name to it? Google keeps trying to go social and that goes against all the trust we put in Google's privacy policies.

Actually, they do get it. That's why you have to go out of your way to opt in to this by creating a public profile, and then clicking the "+1" button where applicable. The rest of us, who have no interest in it, can continue to use Search the way we always have.