Google’s +1 is a terrible, terrible idea that’s already messing with my search results. And I am pissed about that.
This weekend I wanted to find reviews of Super 8. I wanted to see what qualified people who get paid to write about movies said and see if it was worth spending $15 to see it on a big shiny screen.
So, I plug “Super 8 reviews” into Google, and all of a sudden I’m flooded with the crap all of my friends have +1′ed or shared on Twitter.
Seriously? Did I need to see every link my friends shared about a movie in the past three months? Was any of this relevant to my search just to find a review?
No it wasn’t. It was like having to read everyone else’s stupid thoughts, which I’ve already seen and dismissed. Why did I have to deal with this? Does Google think this is an effective search to have information polluted and diluted by what other people pushed a button on?
Search shouldn’t be dictated by what my friends are sharing. My online friends are too selfish with their own searches to know what I want to search on, and if I want their opinion, I can ask them on a social network.
Google, get rid of this crap that doesn’t have the information people want. Give us a search that brings qualified, relevant information that isn’t based on people mindlessly clicking a button.
And please don’t make me use Bing. I don’t want to tell anyone that “I binged something” or to “Just bing it.” Both of those sound like a sex act that shouldn’t see the light of day.
Odd, my search resulted in useful reviews.
Then again, I’m a fan of the “+ 1.”
Maybe my friends are just stupid. Or they use +1 to fuck with me.
Forgot to say, first result was Rotten Tomatoes, also showed the 82% so I didn’t even need to click the link to get an idea of how good the movie was.
I’m still on the fence about +1 but I can assure you Super 8 was a horrible movie.
You can +1 that to the bank.
I actually enjoyed Super 8. I’ve seen much, much worse (See my post about The Human Centipede).
It is so ironic it is almost French.
In order to get the best results you have to turn off personalization or hop into an incognito
window.
Since I refuse to give up Chrome as my primary browser the only other option for me was to create a totally separate profile so I can keep work searches and play searches apart. That or use the advanced search option (which is my homepage for operator queries).
I like to use lots of browsers. In a typical day, I use Safari, Firefox, and Chrome.
I’m a weirdo. I know.
Hm…I don’t see the +1 button effecting my search results. It gives me the same results as I would normally get. I use +1 when I see it on a blog, but that’s about it.
Maybe I’m not using it right…
I think it’s still in the “experimental stage” so you have to enable it, which make sit even more useless.
“Just Bing it” kinda has a ring to it. And let’s be honest, didn’t “Googling someone” sound kinda dirty when we all first started doing it?
Although, I tend to agree with you. If I want to know what my friends said about something, I’d check their social media outlets or text them. If I’m Googling something, it’s usually because I want information outside of my general group of acquaintances. Or because I don’t want THEIR opinion on it.
I haven’t noticed any major changes when I’ve Googled anything recently, but many of my friends aren’t as invested in social media as I am, so they likely just haven’t +1-ed many things yet.
These things take time, and people to push the +1 button.
I like +1, but I’d prefer to be able to toggle between having it on and off when using search. I can see it being very annoying, especially if your friends have poor taste in the things you like
Exactly. My friends have no taste.
Agreed - Google +1 messes with keyword searches too for S.E.O. Sometimes someone will find my blog by a weird search term and I like to see what results they got using it. I get all the stuff my friends have shared on the same topic without seeing the “true” search results. -1 for Google +1
Also, while someone may +1 something, they could do so mindlessly, not that it’s any good. And publishers who make great content shouldn’t need to game the system to make it found.
Google is showing what they want us to see, not what actually should be shown. I always use different browser where I am not logged in gmail for searching, so it doesn’t effect the results (hopefully).
I don’t care what Google wants to see. I want to see what I want to see!
Google is still clinging to the faulty and outdated idea that we associate with people for their taste in products and creative media.