Yahoo should be afraid, very afraid. Even Bing, might want to think twice. Why? Google’s come out with yet a new application that will make search that much easier. The new program is called Social Search and it will allow users to search within social media applications like blogs, or Twitter and integrate them with regular Google searches.
While Bing stepped it up by forming an alliance with Facebook and Twitter, last week Google simply could not be outdone. Like kids on a Silicon infused playground, Google and its competitors including Apple, Bing and Yahoo is trying to jostle for ‘big man on campus’ status. Google is seemingly the more cunning one.
Indeed, this week alone Google manage to sneak in its Voice application onto the iPhone despite months of stalling and protest from Apple. The latest sneak attack on Bing comes after Bing’s announcement of a social search mechanism. However, Google manages to trump Bing bycircumventing Facebook altogether and opens Social Search to everyone.
Social media remains an undeniable force in the world. Not having Facebook or Twitter constantly chirping in the cloud collective is akin to a world without hot water – not necessarily essential, but really nice to have, and hard to cope without. If Larry King can gather millions of dollars for Haiti using Twitter, the world has definitely changed.
So, Google’s Social Search is finally here to fill a much needed void. The program has been making its run through the internets in private beta and has only today launched to the public. In order to check it out, go to Google.com/experimental and turn on Social Search.
Once it is turned on, and the user is logged in to Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, etc, Google will display relevant results that include results from one’s social media circle. This means that images, updates and other information from blogs and networking sites can be pulled for one’s viewing pleasure.
Other features include a ‘My Social Circle’ button which acts like a status button displaying the status of all one’s friends from various social media. It even shows how friends are connected whether it be through a blog or MySpace. Users, of course, must have a Google account.
Google’s Social Search is technically still in experimental stage so expect bugs along the way. So far, it is only open to English language users. Demonstrations are available on the Google website.
Written by Lani Shadduck
HULIQ.com
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