Home
News
You are here

Facebook takes on Google with Graph Search, a curated internal knowledge engine

13comments

By Daniel Petrov

Updated: Jan 16, 2013, 5:57 AM

Apps

Facebook takes on Google with Graph Search, a curated internal knowledge engine

Mark Zuckerberg just took to a presentation where Graph Search was announced to a lot of excitement, at least amongst Facebookers. Dubbed "the third pillar" of Facebook, alongside the News Feed and Timeline features, Graph Search is the internal search engine of the social networking giant. Based on Microsoft's Bing tech, of course.

"Graph Search is designed to show you the answer and not links to answers," seems to be the motto with which Facebook will differentiate itself from Google, though Mountain View has been doing a similar thing with G+ results.

The new "pillar" is a way to make sense and use more thoroughly the ragtag information Facebook users, and especially your friends generate all day every day - to make sense of all those photos, comments, likes and check-ins for the next time you need something specific.

It is basically a more curated approach to search, going through people you might trust most, or who share your point of view and interests, and you know the way they think and function, so next time you need to go to San Fran, you search who of your friends lives there, so you can crash on the couch.

We kid, but the idea is to ask things in a natural and more intuitive way, based on what is basically a bunch of filters for your friends' interests, whereabouts, workplaces and so on, from where you can derive useful information. Graph Search seems to be in an early stage of development, so for now you can look for things like people (with priority given to your top contacts), places, photos and videos (organized by themes such as weddings or best party shots, for instance, based on the comments), as well as people's interests, so you can quickly find those available for Pirates of the Carribean 5 moviegoing at this very moment.

The blue Facebook bar we are used to seem replaced with a search field, and natural language processing is used for the questions, so you don't have to focus much on the way you type it in. You can use it for just connecting, though, like asking for friends of friends who are single and happen to be in the city you'll be visiting, and you can further refine by education and so on. Sounds promising, but we'll see how it does in practice, you can check it out right now at facebook.com/graphsearch.

Oh, and on the question will there be an API for 3rd party apps to integrate in their services, the CEO answered: ""We want to work with any company as long as they'll honor the privacy of the folks on Facebook." Crickets.

via TheVerge

$349

$799

$450 off (56%)

Mint Mobile now sells the Google Pixel 10 with a massive $450 discount. The promo is available on select color variants with 128GB of storage. You also get a 12-month unlimited data plan for $180 instead of $360.

Buy at Mint Mobile

$524

$999

$475 off (48%)

Grab the pro-grade, compact Pixel 10 Pro at Mint Mobile with a 12-month unlimited plan, and you can save a huge $475. The data plan comes with a discount, too: 50% off, to be exact.

Buy at Mint Mobile

$499

$1199

$700 off (58%)

The high-end Gemini AI-enhanced Pixel 10 Pro XL is now available with a mind-blowing discount. You can now save $700 on the phone, plus 50% off unlimited 12-month plans.

Buy at Mint Mobile

$1399

$1799

$400 off (22%)

The foldable Pixel 10 Pro Fold is another standout holiday offer. Right now, you can get the device for $400 off at Mint Mobile. On top of that, you save $180 on 12-month unlimited data plans.

Buy at Mint Mobile

View Full Bio

Daniel, a devoted tech writer at PhoneArena from 2010 to 2025, has been engrossed in mobile technology since the Windows Mobile era. His expertise spans mobile hardware, software, and carrier networks, and he's keenly interested in the future of digital health, car connectivity, and 5G. Beyond his professional pursuits, Daniel finds balance in travel, reading, and exploring new tech innovations, while contemplating the ethical and privacy implications of our digital future.