Google's new social network attracted attention from SEOs and the media before it went live. Now that Google+ has been in use for a couple of weeks, some of these early adopters have been wondering how it might change the face of SEO and Google's search results. Let's take a closer look.
The key point about Google+ is that its various functions and services collect information from users. Google can use this information to fine tune things so that it delivers results more in line with what you'd like to see when you use its search engine. Not coincidentally, Google can also use this information to deliver more relevant, targeted ads, which will lead to more profits both for the search engine and its advertisers.
To better understand this picture, let's take a look at the kind of data Google might garner from Google+ users. Brian Chappell covers this topic well. He mentions seven data points from Google+ that could help Google with its search algorithm.
Chappell starts with Google Circles. These are a way to sort your contacts and put them in particular groups. It's a great addition to social networking, as it allows you to designate certain people as co-workers, family, friends, etc. You can create new circles and name them yourself. So if you belong to a hiking club and create a circle you've labeled “hiking club,” you've indirectly indicated to Google that these people are interested in hiking. Too specific? Chappell actually takes a more general view of Google Circles, seeing them as a vote for a person, just like links are a vote for a website. He thinks it could give Google a better understanding of “the influencers within its network.”
The second item Chappell points to is the Google+1 button. As with Facebook, you can apparently +1 a lot of things. When a status update, image, web page, or what have you has received a lot of pluses from visitors, it would be natural to assume it's trusted and authoritative in some way. As Chappell rightly points out, however, the feature could easily fall prey to manipulation, as so many other potential metrics have in the past.
It's the third item Chappell mentions, though, that might affect Google's algorithm the most. It's called Google Sparks. Sparks basically lets you add interests and delivers links related to those interests. You can then share those links with one (or presumably more) of your circles and even chat about them. In reporting on Sparks, Barry Schwartz thought it was fairly limited, as it didn't contain much information in which he was interested, and seemed to mirror Google News. Hopefully, that will change as time goes on. Chappell sees Google Sparks as giving the search engine another level of targeting. “If Google can understand your interests then they can interpret the weight of your voting abilities on given subject matters.” All of a sudden, Google knows how much a +1 from you means when you give it to a hiking site – and that it probably means more than if you give it to, say, a musical instrument store.
Google Optimization 
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