Google has launched a "Me on the Web" feature for Google Dashboard, and marketers might ask themselves if this will help push Google Profiles - and +1 - mainstream.

Google has announced a new “Me on the Web” feature that may help consumers control the information that appears in search results for their name, and it could also promote Google profiles and (by extension) +1. Internet marketers might want to monitor the buzz around this new feature to see if it helps Google effectively boost the social side of search.

The “Me on the Web” tool is accessible via users' Google Dashboards. When users access the feature, it asks them to create their Google profiles to “help control how you appear within Google search results.” Google explains that the service lets people manage their identities when they post information across the web. The feature also gives users the chance to promote links, websites and social pages that point to more relevant information about them. Google profile information could potentially help users get their preferred info to come out over less desirable results.

Of course, this development promotes Google profiles as much as it serves to help Google users manage their online identities. (To manage your settings, you first have to establish a Google profile.) Many industry analysts speculate this a Google move to challenge Facebook, but marketers might focus more on the potential +1 implications it could have because in order to use +1, consumers must first have a Google profile.

If more Google profiles are created, +1 use could become more mainstream. As Brafton has reported, +1 is Google's social search feature that offers insight on the most popular pages on SERPs. Widespread adoption could have significant SEO implications, as a preliminary whitepaper reveals one site boosted traffic post +1 integration.

Katherine Griwert is Brafton's Marketing Director. She's practiced content marketing, SEO and social marketing for over five years, and her enthusiasm for new media has even deeper roots. Katherine holds a degree in American Studies from Boston College, and her writing is featured in a number of web publications.