Today at the Google I/O conference, Google gave developers a preview of how the Google +1 button can be inserted into websites, some of the stats it will offer and said it would be available “in a matter of weeks.”
The button will have a counter display similar to how other buttons from Facebook and Twitter work. The image over on the right is a mockup of how it might look at the Huffington Post, as created by Google.
+1 Button Comes In “Weeks”
No, the Huffington Post doesn’t yet have this button. No one does yet, Google said. But Timothy Jordan, the developer advocate from Google who lead the developer session, said it’s only weeks away.
Button Generation Form
Installation for most people will be done by using a simple code generator that allows setting of size, whether to include a count and other options. Here’s a prototype of it now (it will likely change a bit):
The “JS callback function” will allow developers to have the button do perform post-click actions that program themselves, such as have a different visual display or track special analytics.
Another post-click example that Google gave: if you have your own login system, you can use this to create your own local record of what has been +1′d (that’s how Google says it writes the act of +1′ing something) on the site.
The buttons are available in a range of sizes:
After certain thresholds have been met (enough +1 activity for a particular site), you’ll be able to view anonymous data.
The reason for the threshold is to protect privacy (if you only had a couple of +1s and reported data, potentially, a publisher could guess at who might have used the button).
Activity Stats
Here’s an example of how the activity stats screen might look, showing things such as total number of +1s that have happened or happened off your own site (such as through search):
Google stressed not to read too much into the slide above or the ones that follow, because exact features might change. And, if there’s data you want, please leave a comment — they’ll be looking.
With the search activity, the idea is to show how the activity looks for “annotated” versus “non-annotated” links. Annotated means that there’s a result that has +1 activity associated with it in the search results, not that it has been annotated with an actual comment.
Here’s a prototype report:
Who has +1′d your site will also be reported in aggregate, such as by age and sex:
And location:
These reports will be available through Google Webmaster Central, when the buttons are released. So, if you haven’t yet registered your site, there’s another reason to do so.
Want to be notified when the +1 buttons are ready? Use Google’s form here. Want to understand more about the +1 button, especially in how it works now as part of search? See our articles below.
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Related Topics: Features: General | Google: +1 | Google: I/O | Top News
Why would anyone WANT to press Google +1?
Was it mentioned about whether a login will be required to +1 something? For example I can’t see it working out very well if you have to login to a Google account to do it. It’s mentioned about using your own site’s logins to track what had been +1′d internally, but I guess that wouldn’t count externally towards signals that Google cares about?
if +1 is only weeks away then surely so is Google Profiles for Apps users. At the moment, even with experimental Plus One enabled an Apps user cannot +1 a result in the SERPs as Google Profiles was recently defacto disabled for ‘conflicted’ Apps accounts’ – ie those that signed up long time ago for Profiles with Apps email and were since forcibly ‘transitioned’. I expect (hope) multiple announcements on Plus One launch day otherwise there’s likely to be a backlash.
What is wondering me is why on earth it is taking them so long, the momentum is gone already. They should have had it ready when announcing the +1 in the first place.
I’d +1 this if I could ;)
Not quite clear on how this will work. Will the number of +1s have a impact (significant or not?) on your site’s rank on SERPs? If so, will it be dependent on the number of on site and of site +1s?
I’m with C.I.M. at the moment. Unless +1 is the tip of a new Google social network iceberg what’s the motivation for your everyday normal Googler to push the +1 button?
I wonder to what lengths Google would go to push the +1 button down the website owners’ throats
re: IrishWonder…
Personally, I’m going to jump in with both feet on Google +1. WHY WOULD ANYONE FIGHT GOOGLE??? I’d rather just ride the wave.
Joe Shaw
I don’t get all the push back from the Google +1 button. Facebook is a social disaster area, in my opinion, because of what they do with your private data.. I think more businesses and savvy web users will be more inclined to click the +1, as opposed to the Facebook like button. It’s basically another button that you can add to your social media set which you place at the end of your blog posts and web pages. On Google Webmaster Central, in the FAQ section, there is a link saying “Does +1 affect my site’s performance in search?” and the response is telling:
Content recommended by friends and acquaintances is often more relevant than content from strangers. For example, a movie review from an expert is useful, but a movie review from a friend who shares your tastes can be even better. Because of this, +1’s from friends and contacts can be a useful signal to Google when determining the relevance of your page to a user’s query. This is just one of many signals Google may use to determine a page’s relevance and ranking, and we’re constantly tweaking and improving our algorithm to improve overall search quality. For +1′s, as with any new ranking signal, we’ll be starting carefully and learning how those signals affect search quality.
or cutting through the chaf, +1 button clicks, or likes or adds or 1′s WILL positively affect your Google PageRank. This is reason enough to add it to your site.