Google integrated social feeds from Google+ and Picassa into general web searches in an effort to boost Google+ user numbers and compete with Facebook for advertising dollars. However, the implementation is flawed because it only includes feeds from Google-owned sites and not other major social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn where most users' social interactions actually occur. Going forward, Google should try to integrate feeds from other networks or risk losing its focus on search by prioritizing Google+ over delivering useful search results to users.
2. Why did Google do this?
• World is going Social. Google doesn’t want to
be left behind
• Google+ needs a boost
• Targeting the money being diverted towards
social advertising platforms such as Facebook
Jamshed V Rajan, Socialfloss.com
3. What’s wrong with Google’s implementation?
• Social Feeds only from Google Plus & Picassa
– And not many of our friends are on Google Plus
– Most of my friends still on Facebook, Twitter &
Linkedin whose feeds don’t reflect on Google
• Google moving away from its motto of
organizing world’s data to organizing Google’s
own data
Jamshed V Rajan, Socialfloss.com
4. What should Google do now?
• Try harder to get FB, Twitter & Linkedin feeds
integrated
• Understand that it can’t push two agendas –
meaningful social search & Google+ promotion
• Stop seeing Facebook as a competition. A search
giant can’t become a social networking giant
without losing its focus
– Join hands with Facebook. Power Facebook’s search
(which sucks! Tried searching for some post of your
friend?) and in return drive traffic to their pages by
integrating FB feeds in Google
Jamshed V Rajan, Socialfloss.com
5. Otherwise, what will users like us lose?
• Google & Facebook competing with each
other means bad internet for all of us
– Bad Search experience
– Bad Social Networking experience
• Remember the late 90s? All top internet
players were portals? That’s what we are
heading for – everybody will be everything.
No specialists!
Jamshed V Rajan, Socialfloss.com
