Property search site HotPads has incorporated the "+1" recommendation button from search giant Google on its home page, the site announced in a blog post Friday.
Similar to Facebook’s "like" button, the Google +1 button allows anyone to publicly recommend a particular Web page. Previously only available in Google search results, as of Wednesday website owners can add the button to their Web pages to help them "stand out" in search results.
In order to click the button or see contacts’ recommendations in search results, users must be signed into their Google email account. A user’s "+1" recommendations will be automatically added to a "+1" tab on the user’s public Google profile, though that tab remains private unless the user chooses to make it public.
"We think this is a great way to make the search faster and to get directly to the sites your friends have already tried and think are useful," HotPads said.
It is unclear whether or how the button will change how Google serves up its search results. Inman News tech columnist Gahlord Dewald, in a column published today, questions whether the new feature will gain popularity.
"I don’t yet see a big motivation for anyone to use the +1 button," he said.
