Google +1 : My Thoughts

So today, Google launched "+1" to the global audience. Finally! I have been waiting since the day +1 was announced for it to be available on Google UK. Along with it was a new look to Google itself, with a very nice Web 2.0 look to the homepage and search result pages. Usually the Google UK site falls behind compared to Google.com (For instance +1), so I am glad that they chose to launch the new look across all sites worldwide.

For those of you that don't know what +1 is, let me explain it.

Say you come across a website, an article (This for one example), the website may carry the "+1" logo. When you press this button, you "+1" the site, meaning you sort of give it your approval. This works between your Google contacts. When you "+1" a site, it will make it more available to your friends by placing it higher in the search rankings as shown bellow. This allows your friends to see information that you think is informative or very well written. Here is an example showing my search results for "something".

On the left is my browser signed in to Google, and on the left it is not. As you can see, my friend Christopher has "+1'd" the Wikipedia article for "something". This has boosted the ranking of the result compared to the original Google rankings.

I presume this will effect the overall result of a search but requires more than just 1 person to "+1" it. It is a great idea, although many people say its a copy of the Facebook "like" function. Lets be honest, most pages on Facebook are crap and mostly just something to have a laugh at, Google +1 will change how everyone searches.

Edit : I just realised that the new Google look hasn't taken effect in the search results picture, although the Google UK homepage has taken the new look. I can confirm it has been switching between the old and new all day so I presume it Google are fixing something and it will be fully on-line in the next day or so.

Seems to be working now.