Google Toolbar and Voting

The effect on Search Results...

[neveremail]

I just noticed a new function on the recent google toolbar update that allows you to vote for a page.

According to google help pages:
"Voting Buttons - Use these buttons to vote for or against a page or search result. Click the happy or unhappy face to tell Google that you like or dislike a particular page. You can also use these buttons to report especially good or bad results after you do a search with Google. "

This obviously is bringing some sort of social network into the picture to aid the ranking algorithm. What are people's views on this?

It obviously has the ability to create more relevant search results and remove spam, but is also open for abuse...

[calumniate]

looks like some more work is on the way for seo companies paying students $10 an hour to click click click

[bobothecat]

This feature has been around since 2003... :)

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