Google has launched new functionality that allows users to recommend search results.
The new ‘like’ button, named ‘+1’, enables Internet users to recommend any webpage or ad they like, which then appears alongside search results. Google says ‘+1’ is shorthand for ‘this is pretty cool’ or ‘you should check this out’.
The +1 system establishes the relevance of recommendations using information from user’s contacts through Google, and might soon also incorporate other signals, such as connections on sites like Twitter. The new functionality can only be utilised once users have logged in to their Google account.
Google says that the new functionality will be first introduced in English on google.com. Initially, +1’s will appear alongside search results and ads, but later on they’ll be published in many more places, including other Google products and sites across the web.
