Facebook today announced it will allow users to search for conversation topics within status updates, comments, and posts. With this update, Facebook users will be able to use Graph Search to find topics of interest using relevant keywords such as “posts about Larry Page” or simply “Larry Page.”  Moreover, users can use Graph Search to find comments or posts from a specific time frame or location (i.e. comments by my friends two months ago) or posts they’ve published or commented previously.

 

Facebook is trying to foray and erode Google’s dominance in the search space just four days after Google’s release of its new search algorithm, “Hummingbird.” By making its social platform more interactive and search-friendly, Facebook attempts to encourage its users to migrate from Google and start conducting searches on its own platform. Although it’s understandable of what Facebook is trying to accomplish, given the benefits of social searches (i.e. social advertising), it’s doubtful that the social network can even remotely make a dent in Google’s search empire. First, Google has nearly infinite information. This allows the search engine to always give users relevant content they desire and entice them to come back for queries. Second, Facebook is facing declined user engagement. This will likely reduce the amount of content available on Facebook for users to search. Third, Google’s content will likely continue to grow. The search engine currently receives over 1 billion searches daily, encouraging existing as well as upcoming websites to perpetually produce content for their customers and prospects. Therefore, unless Facebook has created a positive loop of their own, it will not be easy to disrupt Google’s current positive cycle.

 

Read the whole article at Mashable.