CorpComms Magazine

Last week I spoke about the launch of Google+ in specific relation to search. Having had further time to reflect on this, I'm starting to think that regardless of whether or not Google+ is successful, it could very well reshape the way we use the social web.

The whole point of #NoSearch is to investigate collective intelligence and the power of social networks.  Not using search engines means that your online community becomes vital both for work and pleasure and, as a central tenet, Google+ is focused on creating very personalised and segmented networks according to your contacts' interests, your relationship with them and what you want them to see (and not to see). Whereas Facebook is opt-out, Google+ is opt in, and that represents a fundamental shift in social networking that, at present, some are struggling to get their heads around.

The ability to build a community around myself while undergoing #NoSearch, with different contacts and friends from different aspects of my life with different areas of interest all in one place, is huge. And while it may have come too late for this experiment, the implications for marketers are massive. If #NoSearch is teaching me one thing, it's that those using social media effectively truly thrive on their ability to harness collective intelligence and community.

From a business perspective, community is becoming more vital by the day. Social media platforms such as Facebook and Google+ are built around effectively managing huge amounts of real-time data generated by users on computers and mobile devices. If as a marketer you can get to grips with that and leverage it, you have a great competitive advantage.

So while the #NoSearch project may only be an experiment, it's proving to me that the wisdom of the crowd is more often than not far superior to the results you can get from a search engine. Google may have speed, but people have knowledge. And if Google can integrate Google+ with search, we're on the verge of a new era in the lifecycle of the web based around personalised communities.

Read more about the launch of the #NoSearch project

Paul Sutton is head of social communications at BOTTLE. Follow his experiment on the #NoSearch blog, help him out on Twitter or Quora, and check back here every Tuesday for an update.

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