14 DAY TRIAL // Google continues to expand the reach of the +1 button. While many websites sport the button these days, Google is still not even done adding it to its own sites. The latest addition is to its image search engine.
Now, whenever you see a photo that you like or that you think your friends may find useful, you can click the +1 button and add your recommendation.
The usefulness of the +1 button on image results is really the same as it is on any other page. If you believe that your friends will benefit, clicking on the +1 button makes sense.
"Recommendations from your friends help making decisions on everything easier, from where to eat, to what movies to watch and where to go for your next trip -- and pictures can really help you decide," Xiaorui Gan, Software Engineer at Google, explained.
"In March, we introduced the +1 button to let you make recommendations right from your search results page. Now, we’re extending this ability to Google Images," Google added.
You'll notice the +1 button in Google Images any time you hover over one of the thumbnails, it's just below the link.
The more interesting use of the feature is for images that have been +1'ed by one of your friends.
Since the +1 button is not visible all the time, there can't be any counter. Google replaced this with a simple overlay with the name of the friend that +1'ed the image, or "You" if you've recommended the photo previously.
The +1 recommendations, for images as well, are linked to your Google+ profile. You need to be logged into Google to see them and you need a Google+ profile to manage your +1's.
The +1 button is rather common place and there's no doubt that a lot of people use it, just like they do Google+. But, just like Google+, the +1 button still hasn't proven itself.
