Will Google +1 Give the Stamp of Approval to Your PPC Ads?

By Abigail Rossbach, Search Enginge Marketing Copywriter

It's no secret that today's Internet users are strongly impacted by the opinions of others.

Before we purchase any product or service, we want to see evidence that it has been effective for someone else. We ask our Facebook friends for their opinion on a new pair of shoes, and we Tweet questions to get input on the car we might buy or the restaurant we should pick for dinner tonight.

We most highly value the opinions and endorsements that come from friends, family and other trusted sources. However, even reading testimonials and seeing the "Likes" of random people can sway us toward making a purchase.

In other words, social search has become a huge part of our Internet experience.

In an attempt to leverage the ever-growing power of social search, Google has announced a new feature: Google +1.

How does Google +1 work?

In a nutshell, Google +1 gives you the opportunity to offer a unique stamp of approval to any websites and paid search ads that you find helpful, worthwhile or just plain awesome. Other people in your social circle can see your preferences, and your own search experience can be enhanced as you see what other people find relevant and helpful. The +1 symbol will appear next to both organic search results and paid ads, so you can find recommendations across the board in your Google searches.

(Please note that you have to be signed in to your Google Profile to use the +1 feature, and your responses will only be shown to people who are in your social circle.)*

So how does Google +1 affect paid ads?

Google +1 will not change how an ad's Quality Score is calculated. However, +1 could impact an ad's CTR (click through rate), which could in turn affect its performance and positioning. If a user notices an ad with a ton of +1s next to it, they might be more inclined to click on it.

As more people start clicking on your ad, it has the potential to gain momentum in the paid search results. And the more relevant your ad becomes, the more likely it is that users will continue to +1 it. As you can see, the circle could continue to go round and round for quite some time.

It's fairly unique that paid ads are included in this Google update at all. Most of the time, such updates are geared primarily toward organic results. The fact that paid ads are a focus may indicate that Google is trying to bring a much more social dimension to the paid search market.

Does Google +1 Impact Organic Results As Well?

Yes, Google +1 also has the potential to have an impact on organic search results. There's a strong possibility that +1 will become one of the signals used to calculate organic search rankings. General counts will be displayed next to URLs in the SERPs that indicate how many +1s each site has received. These +1s will serve as personalized annotations that let users know when a site may be personally relevant to them.

Just as with paid ads, if your website starts showing up in the SERPS with tons of +1s listed next to it, users may judge it as having a higher relevancy and therefore click on it.

The Future of Google +1

It's too soon to tell how much of an impact Google +1 will have on either paid search ads or organic rankings. However, it will be important for today's PPC and SEO professionals to keep a close eye on any developments taking place in the coming months. Google +1 has the potential to elevate the importance of social search – both within the organic results and paid search ads.

To learn more about how Google +1 works, watch the video here.

Want to make sure your PPC ads or website pages have all the components in place to get customers to +1 them? Contact the SEO and PPC professionals at Fathom Online Marketing today.

*If you're not aware, your social circle consists of the people who you are connected to through the Google products you use, as well as any services or web apps that require Google Profile authentication.

**Image provided by businessinsider.com