Google have now published a new initiative called “Search, Plus Your World”, which aims to bring you more personalised search results.  Now, when you search for anything in particular, you have the option to include related data from your Google+ profile as well as those privately shared with you.

The change will also provide auto complete results from your contacts, so if you begin typing their name into a search field, Google will automatically recommend their Google+ profile.

These changes have now come into practice, and you should be able to see two small icons on the top right of your search page that lets you toggle between two types of results – a globe (which offers the standard results) and a human icon – which will display related data form Google+.

But is this a good thing, or a bad thing?

The simple answer is, if you are a Google user then this is fantastic news- bad if you are a direct competitor.  If you have a Google+ profile and depending on the various circles you are a part of, you have the chance to gain personal, unrivalled information that can only be beneficial when you make a search. However, if you are a rival to Google, in what is now becoming a social media world, then it’s not so good – just as Twitter found out!