Google’s natural results were different. Indeed, Google has introduced the feature ‘Social Search‘ on the French version of the engine.

What is Google Social Search?

Social Search is a new option in the search engine that lets you see pages that have been shared by your social circle. When a user is logged on with their Google Account to the engine, and its facebook or twitter account is linked to this Google Account, he sees some results appear in the recommendations of his circle of friends.

Google Social Search does not just Twitter & Facebook account but Gmail contacts, RSS feeds, Google Reader, Buzz, FriendFeed and Flickr. The operation is very simple: if a user does a search online and that among the results, a page was shared by a contact, an entry appears in the URL of the result as on the screenshot below:

The influence of social networks

This is not new, social networks have an influence on the positioning in search engines, Google has moreover officially announced some time ago already. What is certain is that Google Social Search confirms this theory long refuted by many SEOs.

To test this theory just type a query while connected and disconnected from Google, we can see very quickly that the pages have been shared by his contacts are favored in the search results.

A strategy of social media presence is therefore required to take advantage of Google Social Search. The Internet is no longer just a way to share information on social media, it is now part of the team responsible for referencing a site, even if he does not realize it.

This visibility, however, is not identical for all users since everyone receives personalized results based on his circle of friends. That is why the report ‘Search Queries‘ Google Webmaster Tools is very interesting since it allows to know the keywords on which a site is positioned but also the average position which makes sense with Google Social Search.