Selected answers from the Dumb SEO Questions Facebook & G+ community.
Peter Vandever: Honest question: Does sharing a link on Google+ help SEO or are they nofollow?
Peter Hatherley: +Peter Vandever ;In my view it might have an impact but not in terms of the old SEO such as nofollow etc. I don't think that really matters anymore. Remember it's not about gaming the system it's about building your authority online (as it always should've been). So the ramifications of an enhanced authority may have an effect in the SERPS but only time will tell.
Peter Vandever: I have read so much on the subject and even people that work for Google disagree. ;
Edwin Jonk: Depends. Some are follow some are nofollow. From memory, if you edit a post with a link the link goes from follow to nofollow. But you shouldn't use G+ as a link building strategy...
Peter Vandever: +Edwin Jonk ;I have read alot about this subject, like I said even people in Google disagree. Is there SEO benefits to Google+?
Edwin Jonk: Okay. I would say yes because any SMB should at least have a local+ listing. These listings do help in the onebox presented in the SERP.
Peter Hatherley: Maybe they're right. Maybe they're wrong ... but either way debating the subject will never be as good as solid analytical metrics after getting involved in the conversation ;)
Peter Vandever: I like Matt Cutts but I dont trust him on some things.... after all, he has an interest in downplaying some things. :)
Harry Dance: I read a brilliant post on this topic a month ago http://www(dot)blindfiveyearold(dot)com/social-signals-and-seo . ;+Mark Traphagen ;originally ;shared it and it is honestly the best explanation I have found for the social argument so far
Mark Traphagen: No need to obscure the link +Harry Dance. If it's relevant to the discussion, you are welcome to link in these comments to any resource.
Here's the active link ;http://www.blindfiveyearold.com/social-signals-and-seo
Also very relevant, this study done by +Eric Enge ;which showed no discernible impact on search rankings from isolated, non-engaged Google+ posts: ;http://www.stonetemple.com/measuring-google-plus-impact-on-search-rankings/
Eric Enge: +Peter Vandever ;The One of the 3 links that get implemented by Google in a post that shares a link is DoFollow, but the anchor text is empty.
Our testing, referred to by +Mark Traphagen, showed that sharing links to content in G+ did not cause ranking changes for the shared content, even for very long tail terms.
Dave Elliott: dont think it helps with ranking via links but personalised results, g+ itself and the indexing benefits should not be overlooked. There is no doubt there are seo benefits to google plus even though the link itself doesnt help your ranings.
Peter Hatherley: Here's a really good post on the impact of Google+ on search results. Amazing how it can be utilised for such a good purpose . #techforgood ; http://goo.gl/WWtj91
Eric Enge: Totally agree on the personalization benefits +Dave Elliott! That is very real. ;My comments are specific to the non-personalized results.
Peter Hatherley: +Eric Enge ; ;+Lee Smallwood ;quantifies the effect Google+ has in relationship to actual Google search results ;(as posted above) in this case regarding a missing person. ;
Peter Vandever: +Dave Elliott ;What are some of the benefits from your point of view?
Mark Traphagen: +Peter Hatherley ;that's a hashtag result showing up in the (relatively) new hashtag search feature in Google Search. Not quite the same thing as what the OP was asking about here.
Peter Hatherley: +Mark Traphagen ;Understood. Yet I think it still relates. This appearance of G+ material within the main search engine, even though it is subtle, might just mean that it could be getting indexed for ranking purposes. i.e, even the #hashtags ;are good.
Mark Traphagen: +Peter Hatherley ;I'm just trying to keep apples and oranges straight. Yes, Google+ content does get indexed for search (and not just hashtags) and can even rank (search "google+ page analytics" logged out to see a plus post of mine that's ranked at the top for over two years now).
But that's not the same thing as the original question, which was does sharing a link on Google+ help with the SEO of the content that is linked to. That' a different story.
Peter Hatherley: +Mark Traphagen Agreed :) Thank you for clarifying this.
Edwin Jonk: From the expert panel in this weeks SEO Questions hangout on air on 00:45:23 into the YouTube video: https://dumbseoquestions.com/q/does_sharing_a_link_on_google_help_seo_or_are_they_nofollow +Peter Vandever
The cuetimes listed on this page are functional while the live broadcast continues and also once Youtube has finished processing the public broadcast. Processing time varies between 6-24 hours. During this period the clip is viewable in full but the cuetimes cannot be relied on. ;
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Peter Vandever: +Edwin Jonk ;Can't watch it right now....what did they say?
Honest question: Does sharing a link on Google+ help SEO or are they nofollow?? 
