Google +1 will be Google's first big success in social
Google takes the exact opposite approach releasing +1 that they took with Wave and Buzz. Very limited sharing/spamming and very high privacy levels - you must opt in.
Also just earlier today they made a rather late announcement that seems positioned towards the new privacy focus with +1:
An update on Buzz
3/30/2011 07:30:00 AM
We’d like to apologize again for the mistakes we made with Buzz. While today’s announcement thankfully put this incident behind us, we are 100 percent focused on ensuring that our new privacy procedures effectively protect the interests of all our users going forward.
Shortly after they announced +1 which a simple liking system similar to Facebook's "likes".
It seems like they have over-simplified the first version of this launch, but answered my immediate question in their launch post on their public blog. The big question is why bother +1'ing things - how will they be useful. If they only show up on my Google profile it has very limited value and I have limited motivation to use the service.
+1 in action:
+1’s: the right recommendations right when you want them—in your search results
3/30/2011 11:07:00 AM
So how do we know which +1’s to show you? Like social search, we use many signals to identify the most useful recommendations, including things like the people you are already connected to through Google (your chat buddies and contacts, for example). Soon we may also incorporate other signals, such as your connections on sites like Twitter, to ensure your recommendations are as relevant as possible. If you want to know who you're connected to, and how, visit the “Social Circle and Content” section of the Google Dashboard.
Will +1 have a higher rate of user adoption than Buzz and the mothballed Wave? I think it will as it is focused around their core competency - search. If I can +1 travel sites and my friends travelling with me see those suggested sites in their own searches, that has amazingly high value. It both increases the signal to noise ratio and leverages my social graph with one simple click. They appear to use your connections on twitter rather than spamming your connections on twitter with every +1 - that is a huge distinction and I believe the most important one of this launch.
Only time will tell - but I am betting this product will be a big winner for Google in two ways. It will improve the quality of their search over time, and it will get a foot in the door for passive social networking (using your twitter connections to decide what to show you during search instead of blasting twitter with each +1).
Signup to use +1 at http://www.google.com/experimental
View my +1's in your search if you are following me on twitter @troysimpson
Or view my Google Profile at https://profiles.google.com/troy.simpson/plusones
