Woke up this morning to a new personal discovery. Some people may say it’s actually old news, and it probably is, but in my eyes it’s a hell of a new way of Google taking on Twitter hashtags mania.
So I am looking (not logged in – a very rare occurrence !) for #bendgate hoping to find some news about the new iPhone 6 and Boom I see this brand new (scroll up and down) Google hashtags box showing me articles from the Google+ network.
It’s probably nothing, but a question popped up in my mind straight away: Why am I seeing this box only when doing logged out search?! I know the simple logic is to say: well Google wants to attract more people to Google+ and if I am logged in I may as well look for those hashtags in Google+ anyway. And then another question comes to my mind: How many people actually search Google while not logged in? Or to make this question more interesting: How many of our clients are searching on Google while logged in or not. Difficult to say as Google Analytics is not giving us a lot in that matter. On the other side with this new {to me:)} development if your articles have relevant hashtags, chances are they will appear here for relevant search queries. As usual with Google more interaction levels with your posts – more likely are they to appear to the broader audience – but I didn’t have to tell you that, did I :).
P.S. Don’t know why people are not talking about this feature in Europe (UK). It’s a great way for marketers and webmasters to get more attention for articles with popular hashtags outside the Google+ community. Love the way relevant hashtags from Facebook and Twitter are appearing below the Google+ hashtags box. Google+ is maturing and it’s becoming a major player in the social networks landscape. Another proof that G+ is here to stay.