Social networks can help you find more relevant search results on Google

Wouldn't it be nice if you could have your friends inside your computer so they could suggest a nice restaurant for dinner, point you in the direction of a helpful travel blog, or let you know why you should buy that latest gadget? Google Search thinks so too.

On October 26 Google launched a new Social Search experiment to help people find search results that are written by, commented on or recommended by people in their circle of friends -- in short, results that are more relevant to the people searching for them.

Google Social Search links your search queries to relevant blogs, websites, reviews and commentary posted by people in your social circle. The search feature will also present you with results from any corresponding articles appearing in your Google Reader subscriptions.

"With Social Search, Google finds relevant public content from your friends and contacts and highlights it for you at the bottom of your search results," writes Maureen Heymans, technical lead and Murali Viswanathan, product manager, on the Official Google Blog.

"All the information that appears as part of Google Social Search is published publicly on the web -- you can find it without Social Search if you really want to. What we've done is surface that content together in one single place to make your results more relevant."

To access the socially smart search results, you will have to log into your Google account and opt in to the Social Search experiment.

Site: http://www.google.com/experimental