Is Facebook's Social Search Engine a Google Killer?

Image by libraryman via Flickr

Its new Open Graph protocol, an extension of its Facebook Connect, is a clear challenge to Google but may not prove useful for many Web searches

When Facebook launched its Open Graph protocol in April, blanketing the Web with "like" and "recommend" buttons, it seemed obvious that one of the company's goals was to use the resulting behavioral data to power a social search engine—one based on likes instead of links.That process is now well under way, as a report at AllFacebook notes. The company has confirmed that all Web pages that use the network's open graph plug-ins show up in the social network's search results in the same way traditional Facebook pages do, as described by Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg in his keynote at the F8 conference.

Facebook hasn't said exactly how many websites have implemented the Open Graph API and plug-ins since it launched the new platform (a week after the launch, it said there were 50,000), but the protocol was an extension of the company's existing Facebook Connect service, which enabled publishers to integrate features from the site into their pages, including allowing users to log in with their Facebook credentials. According to the company, more than 1 million websites—including some highly trafficked sites, such as The Huffington Post—have integrated its features, and 150 million of the network's more than 400 million users "engage with Facebook" in some way through external sites every month. So will Facebook's social search engine be a Google (GOOG) killer?

Warning Shot

The network's move to harness the power of its Open Graph protocol is clearly a shot across Google's bow, but it's not clear whether the power of the "like" is equivalent to or greater than the power of the link. As Liz noted in a GigaOM Pro report (subscription required), knowing what our friends or Facebook users in general have recommended is useful in some cases—when looking for a hotel or restaurant, for example—but might be less useful in other cases.There's no question, however, that the Open Graph data Facebook is collecting could become a real alternative to a simple Google search for some users. Being able to search for recommendations from close to half a billion users could be quite powerful.

Meanwhile, the search giant hasn't made much progress in incorporating social elements into its own search engine, apart from integrating Twitter results—although since Facebook's Open Graph protocol is theoretically an open standard, there is potential for Google to use that to pull in the network's results in the same way it uses Twitter's API.Microsoft's Bing will likely have a leg up in that department, however, because it runs the Facebook search engine, under the terms of a deal signed in 2008.Facebook search grew 48 percent in March over the previous month, according to comScore rankings. That gave the network a relatively puny 2.7 percent share of the U.S. search business, but still put it ahead of AOL (AOL).

By Mathew Ingram

Digital Britain: a revolution for UK internet users?

After months of anticipation, communications minister Lord Carter's Digital Britain report was finally released to the masses yesterday. Although there were few surprises - the interim report released in January had many industry commentators prepared for what was to come - the revelations have created debate concerning the effectiveness of the proposals and whether or not they will really achieve the government's digital inclusions goals.
The report's main points include a minimum 2MB broadband connection for all households by 2012, a speed that Lord Carter has called "a technological minimum wage". While this objective has been public for some time, the report also revealed that the government hopes to levy a 50p per month 'broadband tax' on all households, in order to pay for the rollout of next-generation broadband.
In addition, internet service providers in Britain will be required to cut illegal file sharing on their networks by 70 per cent in the next 12 months. Analogue radio will be phased out and replaced exclusively by digital stations by the end of 2015 and, while there were some fears that Channel 4 and Five would be merged together, the report's conclusions instead will give 4 financial assistance from the government in order to create a joint venture with BBC Worldwide.
But what does the Digital Britain report mean for online advertising and the search industry? The effects will be made clearer when - and if - the proposals start rolling out over the next few years but initially, wider broadband coverage clearly indicates a broader market for advertisers. According to the report 2.75 million homes, around 11 per cent of households, in the UK do not have access to a broadband connection of 2Mbps. What's more, the prospect of superfast broadband speeds could also mean the potential for more advertising exposure - i.e., as internet connections get faster, users can carry out more searches and visit more sites in an hour then they would previously have been able to.
And while Google - a company that's been integral to the development of the digital landscape in the UK - isn't the focus of the document's proposals, it certainly makes its presence felt throughout the report. Lord Carter's introduction starts off by highlighting the huge amount of activity that takes place on Google and YouTube every day and uses the firm's massive growth over the last ten years as an example of how far the digital economy has come in the 21st century.
It also seems that Google has been taking many steps to keep the government on-side. For starters, it has joined the Ofcom-led Consortium of Stakeholders to drive Digital Participation, along with AOL and Yahoo!. This super-group will have £12 million of funding available to them over three years to facilitate this goal. What's more, Mountain View has also signed up to the Broadband Stakeholders' Group's Audiovisual Content Information Good Practice Principles, which aims to provide "clear, consistent information about commercially-provided audiovisual content". Other signatories include AOL, Yahoo!, MySpace, BBC, Channel 4, Five, ITV and Microsoft.
But it's not all good feeling between Google and Westminster. In the report's discussions of digital security and assurance, it cites Google Streetview as a key point of consumer concern over online privacy. How the future of this service will play out as the government seeks to take steps to address these worries is still to be seen, but it seems unlikely that it will move towards a total shutdown as seen in Greece - particularly since the report also states that the Space Innovation and Growth team will start cataloguing satellite data collected by Google Earth.
While the Digital Britain proposals have been welcomed by some and criticised by others, what really stands out is that nothing is yet certain. The objectives lined out in the document have yet to be agreed upon so whether any of them will come into being remains unsure. However, even if its most basic goals - like broadband for all - are approved, the implications for the digital economy, and therefore online advertising and search, are sure to be significant.

by Search Copywriter
Y. Sulaiman