Google gets social layer by layer, next step: social sitelinks
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Google gets social layer by layer, next step: social sitelinks

5th December 2010

The actual “Google Me” in its full potential apparently will not be there until spring 2011 but in the meanwhile it does look as if Google is pasting the new social layers onto their search results step by step. After the “shared by” layer which was spotted in October and Hotpot in November, this time its Google itself revealing another one: Social sitelinks.

Do a search for “Twitter” or “YouTube” and you will see a friends name, combined with, if they have it, a profile photo. (Be aware, it doesn’t seem to be happening on every search, try several times if you don’t see it or update your Google Profile) The link goes to the friends’ content on the specific website. In my case when I search for Twitter I get Danny Sullivan and Zee, chief editor of The Next Web. The weird thing is that Google also returns Bing and Yahoo as my friends…

According to Google, who announced the feature this Friday, “social sitelinks are based on the same technology as Google Social Search; we use your social circle to identify relevant websites and user pages.”. I don’t immediately think this a good thing though because many of the social circle results are not really that good & social for that matter. But its a start.

The social sitelinks are based on your Google Profile. So if you are not seeing them you should probably create one if you don’t have one or at least fill in more details about the social networks you are in.

Written By
Bas van den Beld is an award winning Digital Marketing consultant, trainer and speaker. He is the founder of State of Digital and helps companies develop solid marketing strategies.
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