There was a great story on PBS's Marketplace today about how over 2 million websites have added Facebook's Thumbs Up "Like" button to their pages in the last six months. Some call it the "one button survey." When you click the "Like" icon, say for a story on New York Time's website, or a new drink on Pepsi's website, you're providing the company access to your data and your friends' data.

The whole marketing dynamic is reversed. Essentially, we're shouting to companies "I like you. Pay attention to me! And bonus... here's a bunch of people like me you should also pay attention to. And double bonus, I'll tell my friends that I like you so that they can like you too. "

The next step is making it easy for your friends to see all the things you like. Which is the challenge for Google. Google search is based on the idea that people like seeing the most popular results. But as more and more of the web becomes "socially-enabled," people may prefer to see what their friends recommend, more than what search results are most popular. Looking for a good local restaurant? Will you go with what your friends like, what Yelp tell you, or what Google says?  What about searching for a doctor? 

I predict all forms of "recommendations" will have their place, depending on the product category. But friends' endorsement will have the edge- at least for things you think your friends know about!

P.S. Check out the bottom of this blog entry just below here...