Google Adwords Just Added Their Own “Like” Button

This makes me wonder if Facebook somehow copyrighted the word “like”.  Google recently announced that they added a “+1” button to Google Adwords ads.  Here’s how it works:

Jim, who recently had a great experience working with a mortgage broker through Dominion Lending Centres in Edmonton wants to spread the word to his friends. While logged into to his Google account he comes across an ad for this mortgage brokerage – he then clicks the +1 button to recommend it to his contacts.

Angela, a friend of Jim’s, recently started mortgage shopping as well.  While doing here search, she comes across the ad for the Dominion Lending Centres – now she sees a small picture of Jim with the words “Jim +1’d this page” – knowing that Jim recommended this mortgage broker makes the decision easy for Angela.

Google’s own version of “like” is pretty cool, and since (it appears) to have no effect on positioning for ads, it could be a cool tool to leverage.  Google was smart about this and made sure that people only see recommendations from their friends or contacts from their Google accounts.  If they didn’t, this tool would be useless within a week due to spam.

Another cool add-on for this tool, is the ability to add a +1 button to your website for your users to “like” your website.  Similar to Facebook’s “Like” button on fan pages, this will display in your Google profile for your friends and contacts to see.

Cool stuff! Be sure to take advantage!