Google’s +1 is late coming, but it will reinforce a major shift in content access: user generated recommendation

The launch of Google’s +1 button is a smart move from the search giant. It is simple, non-obtrusive and it could be catapulted to hegemony by Google’s second to none online reach. Google has been scratching its head for quite some time now, trying to gain a foothold in the social media space. Yet it has not been able to dent the established social fortresses of the Twitters and the Facebooks of this world.

Introduced at the end of March, +1 may seem too minimal to really do anything for the search giant. But au contraire: the Google teams were able to pinpoint the single element that matters the most for them and perhaps what matters most in social networking overall.

Receiving suggestions of content by peers is compelling in itself: the knowledge of the interests or sense of humour of a known person provide a near guarantee of the content quality (or lack thereof as the case may be). But global content rankings based on a centralised algorithm is nothing short of mind-blowing: through the entire Internet, users browse webpages, and prop content up a notch when they like it. The tally of hundreds of such opinions and creation of ranking lists is an incredibly effective way to bring the best of the Internet to the top at any given time. Some could call it a live vote on what’s worth what at a given time, but if the prophetic social consciousness exists, then those top lists are the best ways to access it.

User-based content rankings (or social recommendations) has been an important online tool for years. Any regular users of online communities such as Delicious, Digg, or Reddit will tell you endless stories about the joy and the richness provided by these platforms and how it has a central role in their search or daily (hourly?) online scoop for interesting stuff.  Yet each is its own bubble, populated by super users who will swear that theirs is the best and thus keep their communities somewhat fenced in from the rest of the online world.

Google’s position as the default search engine is likely to help greatly with the establishment of +1 as a broadly used tool. But the success of this initiative is only of marginal importance. What really matters here is that, when Google’s best minds try to boil things down to the most important element in social networking they come up with +1. They have recognised that the web is currently organising itself in a enormous ranking by quality, based on people’s tastes – and that not being a key part of this process could mean being pushed out of the game altogether.

So what does this all mean for us PRs, journalists and bloggers? Trying to create or pass on the best stuff there is is hardly new. Content creators have been hard at work for years trying to find innovative formats to obtain more views and ultimately channel traffic to their sites. The search for content quality and “hooks” have been the driving force behind list posts, “how to” posts, the focus on incredibly appealing titles, without forgetting the crowd pleasers such as FAILs, You’re doing it wrong, etc.

But now that social recommendation is gaining mainstream prominence, we can expect the focus on quality to become greater than ever. New projects will emerge that bring up most liked content based on innovative algorithms or user interaction data. This will further impact the most successful formats in content creation and online media. Ultimately, there will be even less space for poor or misleading posts. The web will grow richer as users get better and better top rankings. There will be more entertainment, more insightful well-written posts – and more chances for the clever and the creative to rise to the top.

Content has always been king, but today it is king by popular vote.