What Is Facebook’s Graph Search?

There’s been whispers and rumors for a several days about what Facebook’s new announcement would be about today. After intense speculation it’s finally been revealed. Today Facebook announced their new product Graph Search.

What Is Graph Search?

Well, Mark Zuckerberg wants us to believe it’s not a “web search service.” Instead it’s a way for users to search content that has been shared with them or that they are connected to in various ways.

Facebook’s CEO says that every piece of content on Facebook has its own audience with most of it not available to the public.
source

Examples of ways you might use Graph Search as per their page

• “Restaraunts in London that my friends have been to”
• “Pictures I like”
• “People who like cycling and are from my home town”

What Does Graph Search Mean To Businesses?

Right now it’s limited. Because of all of the privacy concerns they’ve had to work around it’s taken quite a long time to get to where they are. So the roll out is going to be slow. But in the future there will be some interesting opportunities.

The first thing a business should be aware of is making sure that their page is optimized for proper search results (sound familiar anyone?). Tagging, categorizing, and keyword optimization will all play a role in how a page shows up in Graph Search.

Another aspect of FB Page optimization in the future will be “attracting the right fans” as Zuckerberg puts it.

In addition to assuring that their pages are accurate and up-to-date, it is also key to attract the “right fans” to their page and give them reasons to interact on their page on an ongoing basis. “This ongoing interaction is key for Graph Searches since the system will rank results based on how many friends like a page, how often it has been commented on and other activity,” it said.
source

But where it all comes together in one giant Google smackin’ package is when one considers how businesses will be able to leverage the search behavior itself – much the same way Google has for years.

And down the line, as the product enters general release, one can imagine a future where Facebook allows advertisers to leverage commercial intent expressed through their Graph Search queries to deliver more targeted ads.
source

It’s that “intent” piece of the puzzle that Facebook ads lack currently. It’s that exact piece of the puzzle that Google has reigned supreme with over the years. Now it’s starting to come together for FB.

Conclusion

The whole thing has Google Killer written all over it. While they may not ever take down the search giant they’re doing their best to chip away at it. Graph Search will bring both user value and commercial value to their platform that they’ve not had in the past.

Just remember though as they grow and implement these things there will be opportunities to take advantage of. For example optimizing your pages and increasing social activity on a daily basis will set your pages apart from the competition.

There’s going to be a lot coming down the pike when it comes to Graph Search, I’m sure. We’ll keep you updated as it happens.