Google News and Sharing – is social search the future?

Earlier this week Google added a subtle, but interesting addition to its search function. For some search terms, news results are now displaying a ‘shared by’ number alongside the link. For the searches I’ve tried so far, these ‘shares’ only relate to Twitter but I’ve seen other people comment that it displays Facebook too. Here’s a screengrab of the first page of a search for ‘The Apprentice.’

When you click through into the News page there’s no ‘shared by’ numbers next to the full list of results, so at the moment, Google only seems to be providing these stats as a brief snapshot on the main page.

What’s interesting in this example is that The Guardian and Entertainment Weekly are not the top results in a Google News search. Is this new social search feature therefore going to affect the way Google ranks its results? It’s unclear at the moment whether this function will be further rolled out across all news results and/or into other search areas i.e. blogs but it’s certainly something that could have an impact on brands’ SEO strategies in the future.

What do you think of this new function? Should sharing be a key factor in Google’s mysterious ranking system?

Latest Posts

Ah, colour theory—where art meets psychology and gives your feed some much-needed injection of life Whether you want to be calm and collected, bold and sassy, or somewhere in between, choosing the right colours can set the perfect tone. Here’s a snappy guide to making colour work for you.
Read More
LinkedIn isn’t just doing well—it’s absolutely crushing it. Microsoft’s latest report shows that LinkedIn is not only attracting new members by the millions but racking up engagement that other platforms can only dream of—we’re talking 985 million members. Yep,…
Read More
With Halloween behind us, it is the perfect time to discuss how to switch between autumn content and the festive, cosy vibes of winter and Christmas. Social media marketing is the place where creativity, planning, and agility come together to drive brand success. To maximize your reach and engagement, a…
Read More