{"id":522,"date":"2013-11-25T22:30:08","date_gmt":"2013-11-25T11:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/?p=522"},"modified":"2013-11-25T22:30:08","modified_gmt":"2013-11-25T11:30:08","slug":"forbes-google-authorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.panicola.com\/?p=522","title":{"rendered":"Forbes: Google Authorship"},"content":{"rendered":"
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http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/netapp\/2013\/10\/14\/tiny-disruptive-change\/<\/a><\/p>\n

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This One Tiny Change Will Deeply Disrupt Your Business<\/h1>\n<\/hgroup>\n
David Amerland<\/a>,\u00a0NetApp<\/cite><\/div>\n
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These days, businesses walk a\u00a0knife-edge of disruption<\/a>. Radical changes in your working practices will come from the least expected quarters.\u00a0David Amerland<\/a>outlines one tiny, yet important, change: You may have missed it, but it has a huge disruptive effect\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

Your business totally \u201cgets\u201d the idea that search\u00a0is<\/em>\u00a0marketing. So does Google. But Google also understands that search is a service: In order for it to work, it must be as spam-free as possible.<\/p>\n

To achieve this, Google launched an identity-verification initiative calledAuthorship<\/a>. The basic premise is simple enough: Use the Google+ social network platform to enable members to link their profile to content they\u2019ve written, and so claim its authorship. A thumbnail of their image then appears next to the link description when that content appears in search.<\/p>\n

Why Should You Care?\u00a0<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s a small, seemingly cosmetic change in Google\u2019s search, but it\u2019s a catalyst for a huge disruption in the traditional employer\/employee relationship.<\/p>\n

Why has Google made the change? Because the way we relate to content in search is changing. People looking for information care more about the people who wrote it than a mere faceless link.<\/p>\n

A thumbnail image personalizes the results, leads to more clicks, and creates a deeper emotional connection with the end user. It may also lead to the creation of a following for the authors: Online fans of their writing may actively look for what they have written.<\/p>\n

Google also favors good writers: Its algorithm checks to see who writes what, and silently assigns a reputation score to them, based on the subjects they write about. This is then further adjusted by another algorithm that follows the complex web of interactions between the writers, their content sharing activity, commenting history, and the commenting and sharing histories of others they have online contact with.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s All About The People
\n<\/strong>In the new Web, people now truly matter.<\/p>\n

A well-placed blogger with a strong following can help the company website rise in search and increase its visibility in social networks. Company employees interacting with and helping promote a company blog through social media channels can amplify its brand message and reach\u2014not to mention boosting the company website in search.<\/p>\n

Because authorship can only be ascribed to a person and not a company, content authored in company time, using company equipment and under company contract can be claimed by the person who wrote it. This is good for the company.<\/p>\n

In multi-author websites, the more of the company\u2019s employees write, the better it is for the company. A company that has strong writers benefits the most.<\/p>\n

But this picture hides the seeds of disruption within.<\/p>\n

Employees Now Hold The Power
\n<\/strong>Thanks to search\u2019s digital sleight of hand, the balance of power within the enterprise has now changed.<\/p>\n

A company that relies on its employees\u2019 digital presence to amplify its own is no longer in the same position to call the shots the way it did last century. This doesn\u2019t mean that employees can\u2019t be told what to do, but it does mean that there\u2019s a marked shift in alignment between company and employee values.<\/p>\n

That shift is convincingly bringing both to the same side of the table:<\/p>\n