Trying to gather information for a specific topic before Social Media almost certainly meant Google. Well you could also buy your favorite magazine’s issue covering the specific topics or wait some days for the next issue to go on stands and hope, both times, that they have the information you are looking for, hope that the editors of the magazine are better explorers of the web than you.

As people are getting more and more involved in social networks another interesting thing is starting to happen. People talk. Now, if something (news or product) is important enough for you it will certainly find you, you don’t need to go search for it.

People, your friends in social networks, broadcast information.

Your friends are more likely to broadcast information in the same topics that you find interesting. The information you are getting from them is more personal, is tailored to your needs. Your friends already know you and your interests. And it is also important that it is easy for you to ask them.

Let’s say that you want to find if some movie is good enough to watch it in a cinema. You could search in Google pages for critics by people you don’t know and choose to trust them or not. Or you could ask your Facebok friends, that you already trust, or should I say trust more than Google, for their opinion. Maybe someone has already seen it, or maybe someone has done the same research in Google for the same movie and has some interesting links to offer. And yes you could also go out and buy your favorite cinema magazine and hope that they have a review.

Social networks are becoming a threat for Google. Now, and in an increasing rate, you don’t search for information; the information is coming to you.

What products have you searched for recently? Google has the answer.

So how Google is fighting back? If you have a Google account maybe you have already noticed that if you are logged in the results in your searches are personalized. If you have Google toolbar installed in your browser the results you are seeing are based also in the past searches you have made as in your Web history, the sites you have already found through Google and visited more than once.

Now Google is doing the same for everyone. Even if you don’t have a Google account or even if you are not logged in, the results you are seeing when you search for something are based also in past queries. Google is storing this information in a cookie in your computer and it’s using it to offer a more personal results page. Of course you can disable it (it is enabled by default) but most users will not do it and probably will not even notice it.

Google is collecting all kinds of information for you even if you don't have an account.

Google is trying to be our "social friend" looking back to our searches, our likes, to sites that we visit often so these sites will get a higher rank to our searches. Searching through Google is personal now. Only time will tell if searching through Google will offer the same level of personalization as searching through our friends. What users will choose? In my opinion we will continue to use both sources of information in the next few years. But as social networks are evolving Google will have to find new ways to offer better and more personalized services.