In March, Facebook surpassed Google as the number one online destination for U.S.-based users. Earlier, in 2009, the Big W blog noted the obvious collision course that Facebook and Google were headed towards. It was a logical conclusion, considering that they were both leading destinations and it only made sense to for them both to identify their competitive advantages, magnify them, and then try to take away their competitors’ main advantage. It appears as though Facebook is figuring this out, faster than Google according to a recent article on All Facebook “Facebook Unleashes Open Graph Search Engine, Declares War On Google.”


In my recent article in March, as Facebook surpassed Google as the number one online destination in the U.S., I mentioned that defining ROI in social media has been difficult and therefore many brands have stayed on the sidelines – perhaps this will open up the doors further for brands, as search engine results and the associated traffic are a measurable component and relevant when speaking about ROI. Some important notes to consider about this new development, according to the All Facebook article, is that you must include Facebook’s Open Graph in your website for it to translate into search results on the Facebook platform. In other words, by installing Open Graph on your website users who search for content in the ‘search’ field on Facebook will be more likely to see your website. Here is the quote from Facebook, via All Facebook’s article: “all Open Graph-enabled web pages will show up in search when a user likes them”.”

Back in November, Google has released a social search featured – obviously recognizing that search engine results that can be drawn from your personal social circle are more likely to be trusted. In other words, if you search for a product, restaurant, or other information and someone in your social circle has already posted something related to your search in a Tweet, or in another social media network – your search results would show the ‘friend’ in your social circle and what they posted about the topic/place/product. Now, you have a personal connection with the information and more reason to trust it. Read more about Google’s Social Search.

So the competition heats up as Facebook starts to integrate search engine results in their Facebook platform, and Google tries to integrate social network results in their search engine.

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