Okay Geek Farm
Google social search - When is it coming?
Brandon Davenport
There’s a shiny new Google product called Social Search that is launching in Google Labs. This is a new feature that allows you to see results from people in your social network like Facebook, and Twitter. This works by using your Google Profile. If you fill it out with the other social networks you’re a member of, such as FriendFeed or Youtube, Google will scan who you are connected to and give you results based on the information from your friends.
Basic Features
Integrated Search - the bottom of search results will soon have social networking information from your friends, like their Flick photos or their status updates. It’s a blended search integration, similar to seeing news or image results.
Social Aggregation - these are pulled from social networks connected to your Google Profile. The more that are connected, the more social information that will appear in search results.
Social Image Search - they have also improved searching for images using social networks. Images become more relevant using social networking data.
When can I use it?
It'll be launching as an opt-in project in the next few weeks. Then, you'll need to have a Google account and set up a Google Profile to fill in information about the social networks that you use. You will be able to find it in Google Labs in the very near future.
Bonus - Read this interview with Google's own Marissa Mayer. She tells us why social search is the Future.
