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Google's +1 button to impact search results?; +1s for sale

According to Wired, Google has shared its plans to use its +1 button to influence its search results.

“Google will study the clicks on +1 buttons as a signal that influences the ranking and appearance of websites in search results,” a spokesman wrote. “The purpose of any ranking signal is to improve overall search quality. For +1’s and other social ranking signals, as with any new ranking signal, we’ll be starting carefully and learning how those signals are related to quality.”

The idea is that using clicks from the +1 buttons will improve the relevancy of the website's search results, but there is speculation that Google is also seeking to increase the viability of its own social networking platform. Google+ has seen a huge influx of users, but the site has realized that its platform may need more incentive to remain relevant within the shadow of its Facebook rivals. Recently, Google+ expanded the scope of the +1 button so that when clicked, you're Google+ feed is updated with the site — more similar to Facebook's Like button.

As far as websites are concerned, if Google's search results become heavily dependent on its social networking, there will be a lot of pressure to use the +1 button.

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Google's Acquisitions by Country: Canada comes in at #2 with six

Woork up's Antonio Lupetti has turned a comprehensive list of Google acquisitions on Wikipedia into a pretty sweet infographic.

The infographic covers 102 acquisitions over 11 years and the USA dominates the stats accounting for 74 of Google's purchases. In second place is Canada, or more accurately the province of Ontario.

Complete infographic after the jump.

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Setting a new personal record, Twitter eclipses LinkedIn traffic for the first time ever

Twitter leads the pack of the big three social networks in terms of traffic growth, according to a new comScore report.

Ranked number 34 in a top-50 list of websites based on U.S. traffic, Twitter's increase of 32% dwarfed Facebook's 11% growth. Meanwhile, the professional-oriented LinkedIn is suffering from stagnation—it saw 32.5 million visitors in July, down from 33-million-plus in both June and May.

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Maybe not so hot after all? Just 17% of Google+ users are actually active

Google saw 25 million people join its Plus social network in its first month. We've heard the stats: took Facebook 852 day to reach its first 10 million users, that Twitter took 780 days, and that Google+ took just 16.

But users who don't stick around aren't worth much. In which case, Google+ isn't worth much.

New statistics unveil the ugly truth: a paltry 17% of Google+ users are actually active. This doesn't bode well for the burdgeoning social network—it's leading a lot of horses to water but not many of them are drinking. 

And, for whatever reason, men still dominate Google+. Where most other social networks are quite balanced—and some even in favour of females—Google+'s userbase is less than one-third chicks.

Let's Face It, There's Only Two Tablets on the Market: The iPad and the iPad 2 [Updated]

I want other tablets to succeed.

When I heard about the PlayBook, I was excited. I had a BlackBerry at the time and was looking forward to what RIM could offer me. The specs sounded good and the demo teasers were impressive. I didn't expect it, or any other tablet coming to market, to "kill" the iPad, but I was rooting for a legitimate alternative.

It launched. I tested it. I didn't buy it. I don't have that BlackBerry anymore, either.

The PlayBook was a flop, like the Android devices before it and the webOS device after it. There's a few RIM faithfuls who liked the PlayBook. After all, a few hundred thousand people did buy it. And some people bought the Xoom, and the Galaxy Tab, and a couple even picked up the HP TouchPad.

But when you boil the tablet market down, it's a single-device market: The iPad.

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Android users only spend time on top apps; difficult market for developers

tough android market difficult developers lonely ignoredWith the huge influx of developers looking to break into the mobile app market, it's tough to get new apps noticed. With the recent data on users, however, Android developers are finding it increasingly difficult.

According to data from Nielsen's Smartphone Analytics, despite the 250,000+ apps available for Android, users only spent time with the most popular ones. The top 10 apps alone account for 43 per cent of all the time spent on mobile apps. The top 50 apps account for 61 per cent. If you're a new developer, only 39 per cent of a user's time will be spent on any of the remaining 249,950 or so apps. Even apps that are listed in the top 100 — not to mention the top 1000 have a greatly diminished chance at being used.

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Why Google+ May Not Be Able To Sustain Its Growth

This article was written by Douglas Idugboe and originally published on Smedio.

Some quick facts – Facebook took about 35 months to get 25 million visitors. It took Twitter more than 30 months and it took Myspace more than 20 months to reach the 25 million-user mark. In contrast, Google+ has crossed this landmark in less than 30 days. While critics would be quick to dismiss this as the ‘launch hype’, there’s no denial that we haven’t seen such astronomical growth numbers on any other social network.

In fact, several social media experts believe that Google+ could outgrow Twitter by the end of this year. If Google+ continues to grow at its current pace, this possibility can’t be ruled out. More than the numbers, I’m keen to explore whether Google+ has the legs to sustain this monumental growth. Most importantly, does Google+ have a solid roadmap to keep surprising users with new and innovative features? Here’s my take on Google+ and how it needs to grow.

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Google acquires Motorola Mobility $12.5 billion, seizing war chest of patents and first hardware platform

Google is adding some big weaponry to its arsenal with a $12.5-billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility.

The deal, which saw the software giant pay a 63% premium on the ailing mobile device manufacturer, will boost Google's patent portfolio and enhance its hardware resources.

Motorola's stock is, of course, skyrocketing on the news, but Google's has actually dropped 3%, signalling that investors are wary of this very big and very unexpected move.

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The War Between Apple and Google is Getting Bloody, and For Good Reason

Google seems to be in fights with everyone lately.

It lashed out at Microsoft (who countered), its Google+ social network launch sent a message to Facebook (who's not pleased), and it's been defending Android software against iOS software for a while now.

When batting against Apple, Google ought to be wary. Apple's many particular patents and wise legal approaches make for some wicked curve balls—one of which forced Samsung to strike out recently, blocking sales of the Samsung Galaxy Tab throughout Europe.

Apple will sue over software or hardware or you name it—as has been demonstrated time and time again, in legal battles or otherwise, the company is adamant about maximizing its control over everything it possibly can.

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Google+ adds games; Facebook adds new gaming features

facebook vs. google social media gamingCasual gaming is becoming a big business in the electronics and social media industries. Not one to be left behind, the new social network, Google+, just released a new feature that will allow users to play games on its site. Google's announcement included games such as Angry Birds, Bejewelled Blitz, Zynga Poker, Dragon Age Legends, and Crime City.

Not to be outdone, within hours of Google's announcement, Facebook introduced a slew of new features for their gaming service. Facebook now offers Game Ticker, which transforms the right-side chat column into a newsfeed of friends' game activity. It will display which games friends are playing as well as achievements and high scores. Clicking on a Game Ticker story will take you to that game so that you can play with your friends. You can also control which stories appear and don't appear in the stream.

Facebook users will also have more room to play as the site has introduced an expanded-screen mode for games. Users can also bookmark their favourite games so that they're easily accessible from the News Feed.

Google is clearly trying to compete with Facebook by undercutting many of its services.

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