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Google plus Google Plus: You give us info, we sell it!
'Oh, my mouth is watering', murmurs Choc Factory exec
Google has bolted posts created in its invite-only social network Google+ into its search estate.
Mountain View began applying "social" elements to its search engine in 2009.
But it is now ramping up that effort after launching Google+ in late June this year.
Search queries that include results from Google+ will only be available for those users who sign into a Google account first. Additionally, the web surfer needs to be linked up to Google+, which is still in what the world's largest ad broker has described as a "test field".
Apparently it's a big field, however, with some 25 million people said to be hooked into the social network.
Those logged into the site can now expect to see publicly shared posts from Google+ slapped into the company's search results.
Google said the move is all about making such queries more personal to an individual.
Of course, it also demonstrates how the firm is tapping into its own social graph. Anchoring such posts within its most lucrative online estate will no doubt prove an attractive proposition to its ad partners.
"Here's how it works," noted cheery Google product manager Sagar Kamdar. "Let's say I'm logged into my Google Account, and I search on Google for [uncle zhou queens]. I've heard a lot of great things about this restaurant, and we're visiting NYC soon, so we want to figure out all the best eats in town.
"I also happen to have Andrew Hyatt in one of my Google+ circles. Oh, and it turns out he just made a public post on his Google+ account about Uncle Zhou in Queens.
"Cool! Now not only do I get some great reviews on the web, I get a review from a friend about a restaurant with recommendations about what dishes to order. My mouth is already watering..."
He added that private posts written in Google+ wouldn't show up in Google's search engine and said the tech was being rolled out over the next few days.
Personalising the search results in such a tailored fashion also allows Google to more closely target an individual with ads relevant to his or her lifestyle.
It already does exactly that in Gmail, but with Google+ – which insists on real names rather than pseudonyms when a user signs up – ID-linking just went mainstream with search.
Meanwhile, the company is apparently being very strict about its naming policy within Google+. Examples can be found here and here.
That said, we at Vulture Central can confirm the existence of two blatantly fake accounts created on the network that have yet to be deleted by the Chocolate Factory overlords. ®