Google, having failed to out-Facebook Facebook and to out-Twitter Twitter with Buzz, began a more modest attempt today to build social-networking features into its Web presence: the +1 button.

The +1 button lets people recommend Web sites to those in their social circle. Web site operators now can add +1 buttons to their own sites; Google and partners such as The Washington Post, O'Reilly, and Best Buy already are adding the feature, Google +1 programmer Evan Gilbert said in a blog post.

"With a single click you can recommend that raincoat, news article, or favorite sci-fi movie to friends, contacts, and the rest of the world. The next time your connections search, they could see your +1's directly in their search results, helping them find your recommendations when they're most useful," Gilbert said.

More: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20068073-264.html