There are some who say Google favour Google, especially when it comes to displaying other social media sites on its search engine pages. And in the past, that has been true. But now, Google are easing up and allowing more social links to pop up on its search engine Knowledge Graph, seen when searching for certain keywords, typically companies, products, bands, films or celebrities.
Biased Google
Until recently, searching for a keyword that would result in a Google Knowledge Graph to show up, would only contained further links to Google+, with Twitter, and Facebook ignored. It’s something they’ve been guilty of across the board in the past, especially in 2012 when they dedicated a whole section to Google+ pages and links with their ‘Search Plus Your World’ service.
‘Search Plus Your World’ took up the right side of the screen when searching for famous people and companies, with information and links of content only posted on Google+ services displayed, ignoring more active results such as social platforms celebrities or companies might be actively using over Google+. A prime example is Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook, whose empty Google+ account was displayed over his Facebook profile page. It was a controversial move which they thankfully seem to have moved away from over time, with more changes made recently regarding the social profile links included on Google Knowledge Graphs.
Unbiased Google
An example of the new changes can be seen by searching for a favourite band or celebrity. When searching for Foo Fighters for example, their Twitter, MySpace and Facebook pages can be clearly seen along with their YouTube account. The new links in the graph aren’t widespread just yet, but it’s one small step to making the search engine a fair place for all social sites, and not just pushing Google’s agendas. Google + is a great service for businesses to build their online presence, but it makes the internet a more connected environment when everything can be found under one search engine.
At RS Digital, we can create accounts for all the major social services, and with Google now being more willing to share competitors pages, it can only mean good things for your online presence.
JoeRayW
RS Digital
Senior Researcher
