Google__ The Missing Manual - Kevin Purdy [63]
Google+ posts. Click this category and you’ll see text, photos, videos, and links from people in your circles, as well as from people you don’t know who’ve posted things publicly on Google+.
Sparks. This category is the least straightforward. It displays a kind of curated feed of news and blog items related to your search. The box below has details.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION: WHAT ARE SPARKS, EXACTLY?
As a massive, web-wide search company striving for the best results, Google is pretty good at finding news on the Web, particularly breaking news. The Sparks feature (which was a more prominent part of Google+ when the site first launched) is Google’s attempt to help you keep tabs on a subject that shows up in the news. Sparks search results come from parts of the Web outside of Google+, so you’ll find links to articles, blog posts, and videos about your search term. But Google+ sorts those search results partially by how many times each item has been linked to by members of Google+, and what people are saying about them, which means that relevant and interesting stuff should appear higher up. So sparks are a way to let everyone on Google+ serve as the editors of their own personalized news service.
Best of vs. Most Recent
Below the four categories described in the previous section, and below any people that Google+ lists at the top of some search results, are two more links you can use to filter your results: “Best of” and “Most recent.” Google+ automatically displays search results in “Best of” order. What criteria does Google+ use to rank “Best of” results? They aren’t really telling, but it appears that posts are higher up in the “Best of” results for a given topic if they:
Have lots of comments, +1s, and shares.
Were written by people in your circles, in your suggested contacts, or in your contact’s circles.
Have all of the terms you’re searching for close together. So if you searched for “great coffee,” posts that include that exact phrase are ranked higher than posts that simply have “great” and “coffee” separately.
Have a photo or link attached.
Clicking “Most recent” gives you exactly that—a list of relevant results from the category you selected, with the latest ones on top.
Real-time search results
One thing to note about Google+ search results is that they stay up-to-date, no matter how long ago you searched. The easiest way to see this in action is to click “Most recent.” Assuming you search for a relatively active topic (like an upcoming holiday or something related to a breaking news story), you’ll see that Google+ is actively checking for newer results. As you watch, the search results page will update automatically, with newer, fresher results appearing at the top of the list.
If you’re viewing the “Most recent” results and trying to catch up or want to hold certain stories in place, click the Pause button near the top of the search results. (If you don’t see the Pause button right away, it should appear when more results are added to the page.) To go back to automatically seeing the freshest stuff as it comes in, click the same button again, which now reads (you guessed it) Play.
When you have “Best of” selected instead, the updates happen in more methodical fashion. A message appears at the top of your original search results letting you know how many new results Google+ has found since you searched. Click that link, and the page will update to include those items.
Getting Better Results
YOU CAN GET MORE precise search results from Google+ by using modifiers to clarify exactly what you’re looking for. Here’s how to use them to get the most relevant results on Google+.