Google announced this week that Google+ shares would start showing up in Google search...

Reshared post from +Pete Cashmore

Google announced this week that Google+ shares would start showing up in Google search results. Is this a game changer?

Obviously this could give Google+ the edge over Facebook -- websites would be incentivized to integrate +1 buttons more than Like buttons if they provided a boost in search results.

What's not to clear to me is the exact effect a +1 or a Google+ share has on search results -- I thought it would just provide the same results and append a friend's avatar if they had shared that link ... but some testing suggests that Google is actually rearranging search pages based on what your friends share.

Does anyone have insights into how Google+ is changing search results? What have you seen? And is this a BIG DEAL or not?

http://mashable.com/2011/08/12/google-plus-social-search/

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Google+ Posts Now Appear in Google Search Results
Google has begun the process of integrating Google+ into search results with the addition of public Google+ posts to Social Search.

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