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Well, thanks for the downvotes - this probably did not add to the discussion? All of the 3 points are true. Facebook search form (that used to find friends) is

by fear91 14y ago

Well, thanks for the downvotes - this probably did not add to the discussion? All of the 3 points are true. Facebook search form (that used to find friends) is used more often than Google's search. If people at Facebook can think of a good way to force people to search the Internet through the Facebook, they can get quite substantiable share of the search market. Many people have set the Facebook as their homepage. Facebook enables better targetting. You can't for example target specific age groups with AdWords Google plus was a response to Facebook, contrary to what Google's PR team tries to estabilish.

MatthewPhillips 14y ago
Facebook already has a "search engine" in their search box. You say no one uses it because it's not good (not sure that's true), I say no one uses it because Facebook is not the place where people search for things on the internet. Remember that Microsoft made it very convenient to use MSN Search for many years by setting it to the default home page and having it in their search box of IE. It didn't work, people typed google.com and did their searches there. And you're wrong about advertising. Facebook's is valuable but it will never be as valuable as that of people who are searching for something with the intent of buying that thing.
bmelton 14y ago
Since you brought it up, the reason I downvoted you was for lack of citation, and adding a couple of questionable insights posited as facts. After reading your assertion, I Googled for the volume of Google search queries, and ran into this article -- http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3928298 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3928298 (that I just submitted) -- which contradicts your claim, stating that Facebook search volume lags behind the other five big search engines. On what grounds do you assert that it's true? It wasn't a factor, but I'd also question whether or not Facebook enables better targeting. I'll concede that they have strong targeting, but I don't know that anybody can say for certain that it's 'better' than Google's, especially as Google can target ads based on what you're looking for at that particular moment. Facebook might know that I like comic books, or Elmore Leonard novels, or what have you, but Google knows that "I want more information about vacations to Fiji". Which is the more powerful target? The latter, I would guess, especially as I already have suppliers for my other interests.

by fear91 14y ago

MatthewPhillips 14y ago

Facebook already has a "search engine" in their search box. You say no one uses it because it's not good (not sure that's true), I say no one uses it because Facebook is not the place where people search for things on the internet. Remember that Microsoft made it very convenient to use MSN Search for many years by setting it to the default home page and having it in their search box of IE. It didn't work, people typed google.com and did their searches there. And you're wrong about advertising. Facebook's is valuable but it will never be as valuable as that of people who are searching for something with the intent of buying that thing.

bmelton 14y ago

Since you brought it up, the reason I downvoted you was for lack of citation, and adding a couple of questionable insights posited as facts. After reading your assertion, I Googled for the volume of Google search queries, and ran into this article -- http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3928298 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3928298 (that I just submitted) -- which contradicts your claim, stating that Facebook search volume lags behind the other five big search engines. On what grounds do you assert that it's true? It wasn't a factor, but I'd also question whether or not Facebook enables better targeting. I'll concede that they have strong targeting, but I don't know that anybody can say for certain that it's 'better' than Google's, especially as Google can target ads based on what you're looking for at that particular moment. Facebook might know that I like comic books, or Elmore Leonard novels, or what have you, but Google knows that "I want more information about vacations to Fiji". Which is the more powerful target? The latter, I would guess, especially as I already have suppliers for my other interests.