If you spend a lot of time on the Internet, you probably check out Facebook at least once or twice a day. In fact, you might use it even more religiously; for example, many users check their Facebook pages from their phones, tablets and computers and follow what their connections are doing all throughout the day.
Although a lot of people do use Facebook, most use it for connecting with friends, promoting websites, communicating with their favorite brands, playing games and just plain entertaining themselves. With all of the many things that people do on Facebook each day, few people actually visit the website to use it for search-related purposes. However, rumor has it that Facebook is working hard on its search feature, which has left a lot of people wondering if Facebook will ever turn into a full-fledged search engine.
What is the Current Facebook Search Feature Like?
When you sign into Facebook, you can find a “search” feature at the very top of the page. This feature is most commonly used to quickly access the profiles of close friends or to find people that you might know, but you can use it to look for other things as well. For example, you can look for businesses or fan pages.
When you type in something that doesn’t bring forth enough results, you can also see advice of similar websites from around the World Wide Web. Although you might be able to find some websites of interest through this feature, however, it is important to note that it certainly isn’t a very strong feature for finding all of the best content and websites on the Internet. If you are looking to find information or a specific site, chances are good that you won’t find the best of results if you look for it on Facebook. Other sites that put a greater focus on searching and that have been in the business for a long time can provide you with much better search engine results that can actually help you find the information and sites that you are looking for.
Overall, the search feature on Facebook is best for looking up Facebook profiles, business profiles and fan pages. If you are looking for other types of information or pages on other sites, you are probably better off using a search engine like Google.
Why Would People Use Facebook as a Search Engine?
If you’re like most people, you’re probably accustomed to heading to sites like Google when you are in need of information about a particular subject or when you are looking for a specific website. In fact, you probably can’t even imagine the idea of navigating to the Facebook homepage when looking for information other than about what your friends, family members and other connections are up to. However, you have to think about the benefits that could come from being able to use Facebook as a search engine.
First of all, Facebook would probably be able to integrate its profiles and other pages seamlessly into its search results. This means that you could find both regular websites and Facebook profiles and pages that relate to the topic at hand, which could help you find all of the different information that is out there about the subject. It would also be surprisingly convenient to be able to search for topics of interest while checking your friends’ statuses and updating your profile. Lastly, it could be a positive thing for searching in general for there to be more competition out there, and Facebook could potentially bring some exciting ideas to the table.
Overall, it could take users quite a while to get used to using Facebook for such a purpose, but it could be a very positive thing for many Facebook fans if implemented correctly.
Why Would Facebook Want to Offer Search Engine Services?
It might seem as if Facebook is doing just fine by offering the opportunity to connect with friends, family members, and favorite businesses and even complete strangers. However, you have probably noticed that Facebook has started offering more and more features in recent months and years. Games and applications were never a big thing for Facebook in the beginning, but now there are countless games on the site that you can play by yourself or with friends. Nowadays, even some of the biggest and more reputable websites in the world allow streamlined registrations via Facebook, which hasn’t happened quite as widely for other social media outlets. Facebook has been adding new features for quite a while now, and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
The truth is that offering search results could bring big money for Facebook in a lot of different ways. If people are able to search for favorite websites, communicate with friends, play games and more from one convenient site, they might be less likely to even head to competing websites. It’s also important to note that if Facebook can become a true contender in the search engine world, it can stand to gain a lot of revenue from advertisements. All in all, having a strong search engine that is a true competitor for bigger and more established search engines can bring Facebook a lot of money and can give it an even bigger name than it has now.
Along with the financial aspect, Facebook also has to look at the fact that many users would be more than pleased to be able to look for information and favorite websites directly from its site. Nowadays, most people don’t use the weak search engine capabilities of Facebook very often, but this could change. Then, users could use their Facebook profiles for everything from promoting their businesses and chatting with friends to logging into other websites and even searching for new information. This could make Facebook a very handy and convenient free tool for its many users.
Will Facebook Ever Turn Into a Full-Fledged Search Engine?
As you can see, there are a few different reasons why Facebook might be interested in creating a full-fledged search engine, and you can probably also understand why some users might get on board with this idea. However, you could still be wondering if Facebook ever really will introduce a full-fledged, fully useful search engine.
The truth is that it will probably take a while to know. Facebook developers have been toying with the search function, but it seems like a lot of work will need to be done before this idea is a reality. Even if Facebook does come out with a search engine, it might not work as well as the search engines that Internet users are accustomed to, and some might not be willing to give it a chance. It is a sure bet that Facebook will see some changes in the coming months and years, however, so only time will tell if this social media giant will ever become the new go-to spot for searching for various information around the World Wide Web. In the meantime, users can continue to depend on their old favorite search engines to find the information and websites that they are looking for.