What is Google+1?

For quite some time Google has been trying to find a way of competing with Facebook and develop Google into more of a social network. The +1 is their first step in that direction. Clicking on +1 is a way of endorsing a post, website or search result. It works in a similar way to the Facebook like button. The one drawback is that you must have a Google public profile to be able to use it but in this day and age who doesn't have some kind of Google account, whether it be for Blogger, Reader, Gmail, Maps or any of the other multitude of Google services. Those who have a Google account but no Google Profile will see the personalized +1s but can't add them, and those who aren’t logged into Google will see aggregated +1 data.

Search results will also have a +1 button next to them so recommendations aren't limited to actual webpages. The sites or search results that you recommend will be visible to any contacts in your Google network and you can look on your profile to see your list of contacts. It's not limited to your Gmail contact list either, it can also include contacts made via Google Talk, Reader, Blogger and YouTube. There's also talk of them also integrating your contacts from Twitter. Google+1 is still in its infancy so I fully expect them to add more features in the future. The rumour mill is in overdrive at the moment concerning what direction this new feature will take, with some analysts predicting that the +1 button may be replacing or influencing Google PageRank eventually.

I'm not to sure on how to implement the button on Blogger but I'd assume u add it via the widgets library.

To add it to a self hosted Wordpress blog just search for 'Google+1' in the plugins section of your dashboard or if like me you use the Thesis theme, you can just click on this link for full instructions on how to add the button without the need for a plugin.

I hope you guys find this post useful in learning exactly what the Google+1 button is for.