Two interesting developments then – as ever it’s all go. As Rich wrote yesterday, Google announced Google+ will appear ahead of other search results, and now Facebook ads (sorry, ‘featured’ stories) will appear in news feeds, albeit only if a friend has liked the brand.
So, what do we think? Do you a) think this is muddying the waters, or b) want a piece of the action? It’s a fine line a brand must tread! But essentially, you’ve got to know how to influence Google results, and have a great strategy to encourage +1 activity and Facebook likes.
Twitter has already vented its anger about Google saying, according to the Guardian, that “it is ‘warping’ its search results and breaking antitrust rules by boosting posts from its Google+ social network in its standard search results”.
The development is restricted to the USA currently, and you have to be logged into Google+ whilst searching for this to affect your results, but apparently Google+ results will be ‘prominent’ amongst the others.
Twitter’s lead lawyer, Alex Macgillivray, quoted in the Guardian piece, called it “a ‘bad day for the internet’, and suggested – as a former Google employee – that there would have been dissent internally ‘at search being warped this way’”.
As for Facebook, if a friend has liked a brand, then ads from that brand could pop up in your news feed. The important difference between these and the sponsored links already appearing on your page down the right hand side are that they are in your news feed as ‘featured’ items – could this be to make you think they aren’t paid for?
As a consumer this opens a can of worms about the ‘genuine’ nature of search results, but for a brand its vital to know – Google+ needs embracing, and fast, and those ‘likes’ are even more important. I just wonder is it content or cash that is king. Or, is it a beautiful friendship between the two that is the answer?
