Now You Can Share to Circles from the +1 Button

The +1 button is a great way to recommend the pages you love on Google Search. But sometimes there’s content you want to share right away — at least with certain circles of friends. That’s why we’ll be rolling out sharing on +1 button soon. Nuanced sharing is a critical part of the Google+ project — this enhancement is a first step to exposing such sharing across the Web.

Millions of sites are using the +1 button to let visitors recommend their content right in Google search results. Now these sites will get an added benefit as +1 provides an easy way for visitors to share content into Google+. If you manage a website, your visitors can start a conversation about your site’s content with the circles who are most likely to enjoy it, expanding your audience while helping your content get noticed on Google Search at the same time.

We know this is one of many scenarios for including sharing in developer applications. Expect to see more integration opportunities in the future. Check out the +Snippets documentation to get familiar with the approach we’re taking to including rich content in the conversations your users start.

You can preview this +1 button change by enrolling in the Google+ Platform Preview. This preview channel allows you to test updates before they launch to all users on your site.

Share your photos about Places

When looking for information about a place on Google Maps, I immediately look for photos to help decide if it’s the right place for the occasion I have in mind. Whether looking for images of a restaurant’s cuisine, or getting a feel for the ambiance at a local bookstore, photos immediately help me learn more about a place.
A few months ago, we launched an improved photo viewer for Place pages to help you quickly and easily explore images of locations all over the world. Starting today, you can also contribute your own photos of places you’ve been to the growing collection of high-quality photos across the web.
The “Photos” section of the Place page now includes an “Upload a photo” link. This new link enables you to select an original photo on your computer and easily add it to the group of photos in the gallery.
The most useful photos are descriptive ones that help others experience or envision a place before they visit it in person. It might be a close-up of a popular dish, a wide shot of a business interior, or a picture of the outside of the building.
Photos that comply with our review guidelines will be available in Place page results for that particular business for you and any other potential customers to see. Users will also be able to explore these photos in search results across Google, Google Maps and Google Earth.
We’re eager to see the variety of photo styles and images our users share for everyone to view and enjoy.

Google Chrome OS Providing Click To Call Functionality

Google Chrome OS, their cloud based operating system currently being tested, provides click to call functionality on all Google blended local search results as well as phone numbers visible in general search results or on web pages. The call is connect over the Google VOIP network. The functionality is available on Google apps on smartphones but not in any other current desktop environment (unless you are using the buggy Skype plug in).

The click to call functionality is “turned off” if the user does not have a Google Voice account or is logged in as a guest.

As long as the number is formatted with parenthesis i.e (716) 204-1297, the click to call functionality is available across the web and not just on Google products.

Click the image to view the original Chrome OS full screen shot:

Several months ago Google was testing an enhanced Google Places Dashboard that included tracking of calls by mobile devices using Google Maps for Mobile.

Given the lack of an industry wide call tracking standard for local it appears that Google will be going it alone in providing call tracking information from software, services and devices that they control.