For Firefox 5 users, this is a simple way to remove the annoying new Google +1 button from your search results:
UPDATE, 20th July 2011: the previous AdBlock Plus solution stopped working at 13th July. Google changed something. I have now amended the instructions to work with their new code. What follows works at 20th July…
1. Open Firefox. Go to the top menu bar | Tools | Addons | Adblock Plus | Options
2. In your Filter option add…
www.google.com##BUTTON[class=”esw eswd”]
Don’t be tempted to add a “http://” in front. Save and exit the Adblock Plus options.
3. Restart Firefox. The distracting animated buttons are gone. If you run on some other national version of Google, try replacing “.com” with your national domain (like .uk or .ca).