Google Plus and Google +1

Google has recently started to change the Search Engine landscape,
partly as a response to Facebook.

Google is in the process of a fundamental paradigm change:

• from content to people
• from "page rank" to "author rank"

Google has established its own social network in the form
of Google Plus which is only open by invitation at the moment
(ask your friends or contacts for an invitation!).

It has also introduced the concept of "author rank" via the +1
buttons that you see proliferating the Internet.  This rating
scheme operates similar to Facebook "likes", although it
has more powerful effects.

You will soon start noticing members of your Google Plus "circles"
appearing in your search results because they have indicated
a +1 rating for the relevant search result.

Author thumbnails will also appear in the right hand column of searchresults where the author is part of your circle and has indicated
(by coding) that they are a real person and the actual author of the
content.

The impacts of the new Google Plus and Google +1 are explained
in these resources:

Ed Dale Video - The Google Revolution That Changes Everything

Michelle MacPhearson - Getting Your Thumbnail in Google's Search Results

Ryan Malone - Google Author Markup Tutorial


The best how-to training resource I have come across so
far is listed below (not an affiliate link):

Google Plus Attack

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Ron Passfield, PhD, Giant Squid100, Co-Founder of Wizzley
and Director of Merit Solutions Australia.