Facebook Gives Users Wider Search Access

Sure to make Google uneasy, Facebook just updated its Search service.

Now, in addition to friends and family, users can find out what the entire Facebook community is saying about various topics.

Already, Facebook’s users conduct more than 1.5 billion searches per day, according to internal figures. With this latest change, the social giant will now index the entirety of its 2 trillion posts and make them easily searchable.

In addition, Facebook is also endeavoring to tailor searches to the tastes of individual users, according to its Search VP Tom Stocky.

“When you tap into the search box and start typing, we’ll now offer timely, personalized search suggestions,” Stocky notes in a new blog post. “As [users] type, we’ll highlight things that are happening right now.”

With a tap, users can also find public posts about particular links, see popular quotes and phrases mentioned in these posts and explore an aggregate overview of sentiment.

This is not Facebook’s first foray into search. Last year, the company turned its search bar into tool for finding out about what friends and family were saying about particular topics.

The search enhancements should concern Google, which is facing questions about its future in an increasingly mobile world. Citing recently revealed by Google’s head of search, Amit Singhal, The Guardian’s Charles Arthur noted earlier this week that a full 50% of mobile users don’t use their devices to search.

 

 

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