Google had an interesting announcement the end of last week, Google Social Search. Social Search “helps you find more relevant public content from your broader social circle.” The basic way it works is a user, Marty, authenticates (signs in) with her Google ID. Once she does that her searches become more relevant based on what her social circle is saying.
Watch a quick descriptor here:
I’ve said for awhile the next evolution of the social web is connecting the multiple data sources we all contribute to everyday. My friend Elliott is going to search for a restaurant in Seattle when he comes to visit me and can find what his network of friends have said about restaurants lately in Seattle. This is more valuable to him than searching Yelp because he doesn’t know all the people on Yelp. A practical application for this would be shopping. I was looking for a new book this weekend and checked the Amazon top sellers as well as NY Times top seller list. But imagine knowing what my circle of friends recommends, that’s even better. 
#1 challenge I foresee is Google Social Search doesn’t pull Facebook data. Facebook is the #1 social network site in the US so it’s tough to have a robust social search without including Facebook. Twitter is included but Twitter isn’t necessarily my 1st degree of friends. Twitter has lots of people I’ve never met but find me interesting, and I find them interesting. But it’s not the same social connection as Facebook. Facebook are my peeps. Facebook doesn’t let this information out, yet.
In my opinion Facebook is becoming more and more like Amazon. Amazon is great for shopping but it’s biggest value is the data it holds, all that information about people who like this would buy that. You bought this so you’d like that. Amazon doesn’t make that information transportable so people come back to Amazon because they have their preferences built in. Facebook is holding that same power. Twitter has taken a different approach. Most people don’t even go to Twitter anymore to post updates or read newsfeeds. You can do it from many different applications, client and mobile. It’s a completely open social network. Of course they don’t make any money as yet, but that’s a different story.
My initial impression of Google Social Search is a good step at making Search more relevant to me, which we all want. Getting the biggest social network sites to free their data to make a really rich experience is a different story.
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