Rumblings around the internet suggest that Facebook could be about to unveil a search engine of their own, in hopes to keep everybody within their own site, rather than venturing outwards for information. The reason for these rumours? An iOS feature some users are starting to see which points towards their being a Facebook search engine.
Searching Through Facebook
Those lucky iOS users who are seeing an ‘Add A Link’ option on the Facebook app, can search for articles to share without having to go any further than Facebook’s own site, which is different to the current way everyone else has to deal with. The current method involves pasting in the URL from a page they want to share, which can be from anywhere, rather than the controlled search method certain iOS users are experiencing. While the option to share outside information will still be ever present, the ‘Add A Link’ functionality means that friends can share news stories from Facebook and share them via status updates, keeping everyone within Facebook.
This feature is currently only available in the US, but it should be rolled out worldwide once the company has gained all the required data for starting up their own search engine service. Over one trillion posts have been collected by Facebook to help power the search engine, which shows that everyone will be able to pull the information they need. If the information is as relevant and useful as the sites found on Google is another question entirely.
Search Engines and RS Digital
At RS Digital we take search engines very seriously, and if Facebook does roll out the new search engine, we have teams in place to help your business gain a presence on social and through search engine sites such as Google, Yahoo! and Facebook when they release it. If you want high rankings for your site, all it takes is a phone call to one of our team members, who can offer a free SEO review! Be it content management system development, SEO or PPC, we have the teams in place to bring the best results for your business!
JoeRayW
RS Digital
Senior Researcher