Facebook Graph Search vs. Google Plus: Who will win the battle for social search?

January 25, 2013

Facebook unveiled Graph Search last week amid a flurry of hype: offering the possibility to discover new information, people, and places that relate to your interests.

Many saw Facebook’s move into social search as an attempt to steal some of Google’s thunder and attempt to conquer the world of search. Some have even predicted that Graph Search will spell the end of Google’s own social network, Google Plus, and be the final nail in Google’s attempt to try and challenge Facebook’s dominance as a social network.

While Facebook’s Graph Search function certainly looks impressive from what we’ve seen so far, it doesn’t necessarily mean the end for Google Plus.

With an estimated 2.7 billion “Likes” and 300 million photos uploaded on Facebook every day, Graph Search could be a game changer for brands on Facebook, particularly for those in the retail or food sector.

Graph Search allows users to discover places based on their friends’ likes and recommendations, allowing you to filter down by location. This means that brands with physical locations can reap the benefits of Graph Search by incentivising check-ins and Likes.

It’s clear that there is an overlap between Graph Search and Google Plus’ offering, but the fundamental difference between the two hasn’t changed. Every company wants to rank on the first page of Google, and Facebook’s new offering doesn’t change anything in that regard.

The core benefit of Google Plus is that it indexes posts and includes them in its search rankings. The more +1’s a post receives, the higher it will rise in Google’s rankings. The same applies with web articles and local places, as those stories or places your friends have shared or reviewed will appear further up the rankings.

Social search is only going to get bigger this year. Google may have laid down the gauntlet with Search plus Your Word last year, but Facebook has stormed right back, muscling in on Google’s turf with Graph Search.

What do you think – how successful will Facebook Graph Search be? Can it steal the search momentum away from Google Plus?

Attribution

dolphinsdock, Google Plus – Plus Icon. Shared under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

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