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Social “signals” are increasingly determining users’ online behavior, and Google needs to better incorporate those signals into search if it wants to stay on top.

The recently rolled out Google+ is Google's latest effort to get a handle on something that so far has eluded the company: gaining access to the data users generate when they post status updates, share photos and comment on friends' activities. More and more, these social "signals" are becoming key to remaining relevant in the online world, so if Google wants to remain on top, it needs to re-evaluate its business strategy and find a way to integrate these features into its offerings. That means other companies must also change the way they think about search in order to take advantage of its increasingly social nature.