This is definitely going to be a game-changer in the realm of search results and the fact “social proof” is going to be more important for search than just algorithmic results. I would rather see search results that show links and resources that are recommended by my friends as opposed to results that Google’s “mathematizing” believes I want to see 😉

Google announced this week that Google+ shares would start showing up in Google search results. Is this a game changer?

Obviously this could give Google+ the edge over Facebook — websites would be incentivized to integrate +1 buttons more than Like buttons if they provided a boost in search results.

What’s not to clear to me is the exact effect a +1 or a Google+ share has on search results — I thought it would just provide the same results and append a friend’s avatar if they had shared that link … but some testing suggests that Google is actually rearranging search pages based on what your friends share.

Does anyone have insights into how Google+ is changing search results? What have you seen? And is this a BIG DEAL or not?

An example of this is with this very site (image below).  Where my listing appears in the SERPS is different when I am logged in under my Google account vs when I’m not logged in. If you are in one of my circles / vice versa, your results will also be influenced by that fact – pretty cool huh? Here is an article from Mashable about this as well: http://mashable.com/2011/08/12/google-plus-social-search/ – would love to hear your thoughts!