Navy considers the power of Google

One thing to keep in mind as agencies debate jumping onto Google Plus, the search giant's nascent social networking site: Google could use its 65 percent share of the U.S. search market to favor Google Plus pages, either by adjusting its algorithm to favor them directly or by posting them next to other search results.

That's one point made in a new slideshow from the U.S. Navy titled "What You Should Know about Google+ Pages."

A lower search ranking for agency Web pages could compromise those agencies' ability to broadcast public information and seriously set back a governmentwide effort to make data more accessible online.

The Navy slideshow also features several positive arguments for launching Google Plus pages, including that the site's linking of text and video chat gives it a functionality other sites can't match.

A handful of agencies have joined Google Plus so far, but most are taking their time. President Obama's reelection campaign just

stuck a toe in the water late last month.

Any alteration in the Google search algorithm to favor its own social networking pages would likely lead to a major antitrust inquiry. But that might not deter the search giant, which has faced down antitrust regulators and lawmakers before, both in the U.S. and abroad.