Facebook has recently implemented a web-wide “like” button that has caused some commotion among general users with its creation. Within the first 7 days of launch, over fifty thousands websites added the button with hopes that the new social link would help drive traffic and keep them in line with the elusive and fickle social crowd and new generations.You’ve likely heard about the button, but for those that haven’t it’s a very simply feature that’s being added to websites. It’s a small app that adds a “Like” button on a website, and Facebook users who click the like button with be able to share their interest in that page content publicly on their Facebook page. While the “Like” button has been big within the network itself, its only just gone mainstream in Facebooks attempt to weave itself more into the world wide web.

While there are plenty of people that are excited about it, I’m left to wonder at the impact it will have on SEO. While I don’t particularly lean toward one side or the other at the moment (it’s too early to make any real decision) there are plenty of people in the world of SEO that are raising eyebrows over this.

It’s not the first time people are pushing back against Facebook for something they’re doing. Facebook is also getting it from all sides over privacy concerns at the moment.

The problem that many have with the Like button, including Google and other search engines, is that the button itself isn’t HTML friendly. It’s a closed system (proprietary) that Facebook has complete control over. The issue rests in the fact that since it’s a closed system, Google cannot index the links, info, or the connections that are being created within the network.

I guess the questions on the minds of many are: Where does the link juice go? Does this linking system change page rank at all?

Unfortunately it’ll probably be some time before answers start to show. While there are many sites now utilizing the “Like” button, it’s still only a small fraction of the total sites on the web. Not nearly enough of a community yet to start looking at data.

Of course, this means that Facebook and Google are now swinging into round 46 of their title match.. maybe 47. Who’s counting anymore? Facebook is obviously becoming a bigger player in the social scene and putting a lot more pressure on Google. By leveraging their own network and excluding search engines in the process, they’re taking another big fat step in controlling the social scene and the traffic within it.

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