Are Google’s Social Search Changes for Better or Worse?

Last week, Google made yet another change to its Search. What seems to be part of a bigger game-plan to push and integrate Google+ even more deeply into its Search ecosystem. Google’s calling this update: “Search plus Your World.” This brings Search + Social into the forefront of online marketing strategies. No longer can search and SEO be your only weapon of choice for the battles of online dominance. The question is – Is it for the better or for the worse? That’s what has us and the tech world divided it seems. Let’s explore both.

For Better?

Jack Menzel, product management director of Google search, explained that now Google+ members will be able to “search across information that is private and only shared to you, not just the public web.” Watch Video. Infact Matt Cutts wrote this on his blog “Once you know the trick, it might not seem like magic anymore. In fact, this is the “things just work” experience that everyone in the tech industry strives for. I suspect as more people take Search plus Your World out for a test drive, they’ll quickly experience similar magical “Aha!” moments like I did. Give this new feature a whirl: once you see how much better personal search can be, I don’t think you’ll want to give it up.”

For Worse?

Twitter Reacts: “We’re concerned that as a result of Google’s changes, finding this information will be much harder for everyone. We think that’s bad for people, publishers, news organizations and Twitter users.” Over at SearchEngineland, Danny Sullivan has compiled a series of damning examples of the ways Google’s new interface promotes Plus over relevancy. Long story short: It’s a huge step backwards. One post on Gizmodo also had a post title ‘Google just made Bing the Best Search Engine’. The wrath Google is facing with this decision is also brewing an Anti-Trust commotion.

What do you think?

Is Twitter being oversensitive, or did Google misuse its monopoly power? Have you spotted any difference in your search results? How would this effect Google Search, Publishers and Ad Revenues tied to it? Vote in our Poll below and let us know your thoughts in comments section as well

The 64th Social Media Breakfast(Kolkata): 2011 Roundup and Trends to Watch in 2012

The year 2011 is over and 2012, the New Year, has started with many expectations and aspirations. 2011 has been a year full of many events and anecdotes. It’s been a rollercoaster ride. A number of stories became headlines such as the introduction of Google Plus, campaigns and protests made against various tyrannical dictators through Social Media, and the most recent hackers attack. These were the notable events or trends in 2011. Now what are the trends that we are going to watch in 2012? For discussing this, the MeetUp members gathered at CKCK in Ray’s IT Park at 7:00 p.m. to join in the Social Media Breakfast, 64th Kolkata Chapter. The topic of the discussion was extremely inspiring – 2011 Roundup and Trends to Watch in 2012. This was a perfect opportunity to take a look at the most significant tech/social media stories in 2011 and glance into the future and envisage the trends which are going to rule Social Media and the Internet in 2012.

 

Given below are the points that have been discussed in the 64^th Kolkata Chapter of Social Media Breakfast:

 

• The launch of Google+ was an important breakthrough in 2011 as far as Social Media is concerned.
• In 2012, Facebook will cross 1 Billion users and it is turning out to be a major trend in the year 2012.
• Social Commerce will garner higher impetus with features like Facebook stores and Facebook credit. This is also going to be an important trend in 2012.
• Rumors are rife that Facebook will monetize likes.
• In 2012, Twitter will focus on more value addition. Knowledge sharing and knowledge dissemination are going to rise.
• In 2012, social commerce or social shopping will grow. Facebook is going to play a key role in facilitating this.
• In 2012, the significance of Social Media platforms other than Twitter is going to increase.
• 2012 is going to be the year for moving ahead of engagement. There is a necessity of the transformation of “social” engagement to “real” engagement.