Tuesday, January 15, 2013

What is Facebook's Graph Search and what does it mean for your business?



Today Facebook unveiled Graph Search which it's executives describe as the third pillar of Facebook (along with Newsfeed and Timeline.)  So what exactly is Graph Search and how will it effect your Facebook Business Page?  

In the simplest terms:  Graph Search is a social media search engine. Think of your community of friends on Facebook as a giant database of information.  Users share where they have been (via check-ins), they share their interests and recommendations (by liking Pages), they share their age, employer, and relationship status.  Facebook has now made it easy to utilize all of this information.

What kind of information will Graph Search be able to retrieve?  From the Facebook press release: 
The first version of Graph Search focuses on four main areas -- people, photos, places, and interests.

People: “friends who live in my city,” “people from my hometown who like hiking,” “friends of friends who have been to Yosemite National Park,” “software engineers who live in San Francisco and like skiing," "people who like things I like," "people who like tennis and live nearby"

Photos: “photos I like,” “photos of my family,” “photos of my friends before 1999,” "photos of my friends taken in New York," “photos of the Eiffel Tower”

Places: “restaurants in San Francisco,” “cities visited by my family,” "Indian restaurants liked by my friends from India," “tourist attractions in Italy visited by my friends,” “restaurants in New York liked by chefs," "countries my friends have visited"

Interests: “music my friends like,” “movies liked by people who like movies I like,” "languages my friends speak," “strategy games played by friends of my friends,” "movies liked by people who are film directors," "books read by CEOs"
If two different people type the same keywords into a standard search engine, such as Google, they generally get pretty similar results.  With Graph Search, the search results will be greatly varied from person to person depending on the users unique friends and their interests.

In their press release Facebook mentioned that this will eventually be able to find medical professionals and other businesses. I foresee that eventually users will be able to get results for questions such as: "who is a realtor in Powell, Ohio that my friends like," "dentists in Grandview that my friends recommend," or "where do my friends get hardwood flooring in Columbus?"   The possibilities are endless!

Now it is more important than ever to make sure your business has a Facebook Business Page and is actively gathering "likes" from customers and clients

Facebook Graph Search has massive potential in terms of marketing your business through social media!  

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