“Actively Discussed On Google+” Now Showing In Google Search Results

Google’s results are getting even more deeply intertwined with Google+. New links are now showing under results that show “Actively Discussed On Google+.” The link is expandable and brings in Google+ comments or posts when clicked. The “Actively Discussed on Google+” displays much like a sitelink with a blue “Show” button that will expand the discussion without […]

Chat with SearchBot

Google’s results are getting even more deeply intertwined with Google+. New links are now showing under results that show “Actively Discussed On Google+.” The link is expandable and brings in Google+ comments or posts when clicked.

The “Actively Discussed on Google+” displays much like a sitelink with a blue “Show” button that will expand the discussion without taking users off the results page:

Social Under 25

When the show button is clicked we’ve spotted either comments or posts from Google+ displaying.  Comments look quite similar to the Google+ execution and are nested as responses.  To no-one’s suprise, a link at the bottom of the expanded unit allows users to go directly to Google+:Actively Discussed Google+

A few implementations spotted weren’t actual discussions, rather just Google+ posts.  This example for instance pulls a Google+ post under the result with the Google+ post basically replicating the URL above.  While it makes sense to tie in discussions, pulling in post without comments like this seems like a bad idea.

Post

This implementation furthers the Google+ification of Google search, many times pushing Google+ over relevancy.   The “Actively Discussed” links are in test mode currently, no official release has been announced.


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About the author

Greg Finn
Contributor
Greg Finn is the Director of Marketing for Cypress North, a company that provides digital marketing and web development. He is a co-host of Marketing O'Clock and has been in the digital marketing industry for nearly 20 years. You can also find Greg on Twitter (@gregfinn) or LinkedIn.

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