Social Graph Content in Search Results

Moving quickly to capitalize on its growing relationship with Twitter, Google is now publicly testing a new search feature called Social Search.  Available now via Google Labs, Social Search triangulates your contacts in your Gmail chat buddies, your Gmail contacts friends, family and co-worker groups, and people you’re publicly connected to on other social sites (such as Twitter and FriendFeed), which Google calls your Social Circle, to find social media those folks may have produced that relates to your search query.

In a blog post at Google Labs, Google’s Matt Cutts says you should login and do a search:

If there’s relevant web content written by people in your social circle, it will automatically show up at the bottom of your search results under a section called “Results from people in your social circle.”

To see even more social content you can click the “Show options” link at the top of the results page and then click on the “Social” link.

In addition, any blogs you subscribe to via Google Reader will be considered part of your Social Circle and new, relevant posts will be added to your search results.

Social Search also exponentializes your social circle.  In an interview with Laurie Sullivan over at MediaPost, Cutts said:

If I follow my best friend, and he’s following five people, Google will add those five people to my extended social circle since it’s likely some of those connections will be mine as well.

Remember, you can only see the social content in search results if you’re signed in via Google Labs.  Go check it out for yourself, or take a look at this video on Social Search that Google prepared: