As a fundamental matter, as a consumer-user, I must first have a Google Profile to participate in +1. If not, I’ll be asked to sign up and alerted that my pluses are public and so on.
To digress for a moment, there are three consumer experiences around +1:
- No Google account or not signed in
- Google account, signed in, but no Google Profile
- Google Profile holder
Those with Google Profiles can “plus” things; everyone else cannot. The next level down, Google account holders who are signed in will see all the +1′s and personalized “recommendations” even though they cannot add their own pluses without a Google Profile. It will look very much like Social Search does today. Finally, those not signed in or without a Google account will see aggregated +1 data but no personalized information: e.g., 10 users +1′d this (page or ad).
