Google Plus One - It is being added to Google Adwords
It appears the new Google plus one button is going to also be added to Google Adwords. If you don't know what Google's plus one button looks like, look at the bottom of this page. I added it to my site shortly after it was made available. The idea behind the button is unclear but there are many theories about how Google will use the information to improve its search results. One thing is clear though. They will use the Google +1 button to change how pages rank in Google search (Therefore if you would be willing to +1 this page that would be great). As of today it looks like they will also use this data to change how adwords chooses what ads to display where. See the email below that I just received from Google earlier this week. If you get customers from your website, you may want to read this article as things on the web may be drastically changing in the near future.
*****Letter From Google*****
Hello,
This email is about your AdWords account 3715825645
In the coming weeks, your search results and ads on Google will include a +1 button, which users can click to recommend your ads. You don’t need to make any changes to your account in order to take advantage of them. The final landing page URL of your ads can also appear on the Google profile of any user who +1’s your ad.
Here's How the +1 button works:
Let’s say you own a hotel in Madrid. Brian had a lovely stay at your hotel last summer. When Brian starts researching accommodations for his next trip to Spain, he searches on Google while signed into his Google account, and sees your ad. He clicks the +1 button on the ad to recommend it to his contacts.
When Brian’s friend Ann plans her trip to Spain, she signs in to her Google account, searches, and also sees your ad – plus the personalized annotation that Brian +1’d it. Knowing that Brian recommends your hotel helps Ann decide where to stay during her travels.
Think of the +1 button as a way for fans of your business to recommend what you offer, for all their friends and contacts to see. By helping searchers see more personal, relevant ads, we believe you’ll see more qualified traffic. You can also add the +1 button to your site to give your customers the opportunity to +1 your site after visiting it.
To learn more about what’s changing and how +1 works, visit the AdWords Help Center.
To add the +1 button to your site, visit the +1 button tool on Google Webmaster Central.
Sincerely,
The Google AdWords Team
****End Of Letter From Google*****
If you are not familiar with what the Google +1 button is check the bottom of this page. You will see a +1 in blue text inside a white box that has small amounts of red, green, blue and yellow across the top of the box. That is the Google +1 button. You will also notice that this button appears beside each search result in Google, allowing you to +1 any website you find, even if they don't have the +1 button on their website.
No one really knows how the +1 button will affect search and Google Adwords, but here are my predictions.
Search:
My prediction is that google will start to use +1 clicks to generate what websites it shows for any given search term. I am thinking that in time as people start to use this feature and google builds up data on +1 button clicks, websites that get more +1 clicks per number of visits to their sites will be ranked higher in google's search results. On the other hand websites that get very few +1 clicks per visit will be placed lower in the search results.
I also think Google will start to use this in a data not only to affect universal searches, but also start to customize search results. Currently when any two people search in Google for the same keyword in the same city they will both receive the same search results. They may be shown different search ads but the organic (non ad) results will be exact same. With plus one what I foresee happening is that Google will use this data to create different search results for each person, even if they are located in the same city.
I think Google will personalize each person's search results by tracking what sites that particular person decides to +1. I am going to guess they will look at the content of these sites to see which type of sites you are most interested. With this data they will then try and return better search results that are more similar to websites that you have pressed the +1 button for in the past. In addition they could possibly even look at the design and layout of sites you have plus oned or what websites the websites link to that you have plus oned. With this information it would just be another layer Google could use to figure out what you like to help it deliver you better search results.
Google could also take data from what your friends are plus oneing to determine what search results it will show you. In this scenerio Google would rank sites higher that your friends have already plus oned but that you have not. Really the amount of ways Google can use the information it will be getting from +1 button clicks is a long list.
Many people think the +1 is not going to be that big a deal or not that beneficial. Personally I think this is going to be huge for Google's search tool as it will give Google so much information that it can use to improve search results.
Adwords:
Much like search I see the Google +1 button impacting search results I also see it impacting which ads get shown more and which ones get shown less. The ones that get a lot of +1s will be shown more and the ads that get less +1 ads will be shown less.
I also believe the button will mean that ads that are shown will be personalized to the specific person using google search. My thought is that websites that are plus oned by the user will be more likely to come up. In addition ads that are for websites with similar content to websites the user had plus oned in the past will also show up more for that user.
As described in the letter, the ads will also show other people the person is connected to that have plus oned the site for which the ad is for. So if Andrew has a friend Brad that plus ones the website of a particular grocery store, Andrew will be more likely to see an ad from the website that Brad has plused one, when Andrew searches buy Bananas.
Key Insights
The more I think about this the more I am thinking the plus one button will really change how things are done on the web, with both google search results and how google adwords ads are displayed. As a result this will affect the way in which small business get traffic to their websites and how they get new customers from their website. The websites that get more plus ones will rank higher in search results, be shown more often in the ads section of search results and thereby get more traffic and customers.
The other scary thing is that as Google shows information on who has plus oned a website or ad within its search results, the number of websites or ads that they can fit on the first page of search results is going to decrease. I am going to estiamted that on average 2 to 3 listing on the first page will be no longer be able to fit. Given most search results show 10 to 12 results on the first page that means it will now only show 7 to 9 results. If your website is currently sitting at position number 7 through 12 on page one for a major keyword that drives a lot of traffic to your website, you may want to investigate investing in an SEO campaign for that webpage and keyword. By doing this you may be able to avoid losing significant traffic to your website.
Given the above I would recommend you ad the plus one button to your website now and try to get people to start plus oneing your site. This will ensure you don't lose website traffic. It may actually be a great opportunity to improve your websites search rankings, adwards impressions and theirby increase your website traffic. Given all of this information I feel I should be making a request for my website. If you found this article interesting, please click the Google plus one bottom at the bottom of this page.
Other Related Article You Might Be Interested In
1. Cost Per Click vs Cost Per Impression - Which One Is Better?
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3. Google Adwords Cost Per Impression
My name is Chris R. Keller. I work at Profitworks Small Business Services helping various B2B small businesses in Waterloo and Kitchener Ontario generate new customers. If you are interested in generating new customers for your B2B small businesses enter your email in the box provided below and click the "Send Me Free Updates" button.
I hope this article on the new Google plus one button was a interesting to you. Thanks for reading. As always I love to feature guest posts on this blog. If you are interested in writing an article as a guest post on this blog, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
