Are you now aware of Google's master plan? One thing that I really love about Google is that they continuously keep their finger on the pulse of innovation. As Google introduced 'Search Across Your World' on Tuesday, a lot of furor was created in the SEO world. Google has always claimed that it strives to enhance the quality of its search results. The last couple of Panda or Farmer updates have been seen as efficient steps in the very direction.

Now, Google wants to make the search results more social or personalized. The 'Search, Plus Your World' is actually an algorithmic change that pulls in private data from Google Plus into your search results. So, if you conduct a search on Google (while logged into your Google account), you will not only see information from people you don't know (the good old-fashioned way), but also from those who you have in your Google Plus circles or contacts list.

Fine, if Google wants to make the web more personalized. If search results get more social, that's a good signal that the game of SEO is not always going to be the same. That's not the death of SEO either. The rules, however, are certainly changing.

The big question, however, is whether this recent search shift will make any difference to a brand's SEO. Since Google search results show personal results (from Google Plus) at the top, it can really have a major impact on your brand's or small business' search results. Rankings will not look the same now. If the rankings of your business get affected, it will ultimately impact your online sales and revenue. When more personal results appear at the top, public results will ultimately be pushed down more.

Earlier, brands only needed to compete against the top public search listings. Now, you have one more competition - private or personal listings (pulled in from a user's Google Plus network of contacts).

So, what's the way out? Well, you have only one choice - You need to get more social than before. If you want to appear in the top personal or private results, you need to invest more time into connecting with Google Plus users via your Google Plus brand pages (if you're already there). The more powerful your network is, the more SEO benefits you can gain in this race.

When Google Plus was first launched, nobody would have thought that Google will soon integrate content from this social network into the searches. But now, it's quite obvious that Google always has its action-plan ready.

A user, while logged into their Google account, will also be kept away from local search results. Definitely, this integration of personal information with public information into the Google searches is no petty deal. And you can never claim Google, as it also offers users (or searchers) a toggle button, which helps them to shift from 'personal' to 'universal' search results and vice versa. That's another matter whether the average user really knows what that toggle button is for or even notices the same!

If you're a brand, the recent integration of Google Plus into the searches clearly signifies the 'real potential of being social'. Small businesses should now gear up to interact more with their customers, connect with them on Google Plus and have them comment and share the posted content as much as possible.

So, don't just focus on creating top quality content, because Google is fast turning into a search engine which also values people and relationships. This is just the beginning towards making searches more social or personalized. Brands really need to keep a close watch and embrace the changes to create an SEO strategy that does't beat them in Google organic results.