April 6, 2011 – Social search continues to grow in popularity, which only makes Google realize their limitations and want access to Facebook even more.
Technorati brought this topic to our attention in their article, “Google Weaves Social Search Web.” The Google/Facebook war over metadata continues with little hope for a resolution. In the interim, Google is working on its own social search enhancements incorporating a searcher’s personal preferences with normal search results. Adding to the fight, Google has created Google Places, which allows businesses to get on Google for free, create a presence and drive customers to their door locally. This has enabled Google to enrich its index with valuable data on businesses and their listings. These listings were even more valuable because most of the businesses did not even have a website and therefore existed only in the Google Index.
Besides ignoring Google, what is Facebook doing to make theirself more relevant to users? Their somewhat aggressive marketing attempt to get users to “make Facebook their home page” is evidently an attempt to divert users from Google and Yahoo, but their continued “don’t call me/I’ll email you” approach to customer service leaves many with a bad taste in their mouth.
It will be interesting to see where this social power duo will end when this battle is over.
Melody K. Smith
