Google‘s proliferation of the +1 button continued Wednesday as the company added the feature to image searches.
The button, which was introduced in March as an answer to Facebook’s “Like,” is equivalent to a stamp of approval from Google users. Over the past few months, +1s have appeared next to news articles, on websites and even in ads.
Why images? In Google’s Inside Search blog, Xiaorui Gan, a software engineer at the company, describes the following scenario: “Let’s say you’re looking to summit Mount Kilimanjaro and want to inspire a few of your climbing buddies to join you. You search for [mount kilimanjaro summit] and switch to Images mode to find rows and rows of photos testifying that this peak can indeed be conquered. By hovering over one of the images, you can quickly recommend this photo to your friends by clicking the +1 button.” Soon, she continues, you’ll be able to see which photos in your search results they recommended as well.http://mashable.com/2011/11/09/google-plus-one-image/