Posts tagged Like
Although my reposting of the RSA Animate video generated lots of visits, the post I’m asked about the most is the one about the Facebook vs. Google battle and the need to optimize for discovery within the Open Graph.
If you haven’t noticed, there have been a few recent developments:
- Facebook has apparently said that all “Liked” pages will show up in search results (although some testing seems to show that this isn’t happening yet)
- Facebook also seems to have auto-generated scores of new Community pages, populating them with content from Wikipedia and public postings. Look at this example for Floristry, or this one for Self Catering, and even this one for my old friend Telebid. They’re soliciting contributors to these pages at the moment, and (somewhat obscurely) asking for the “Official Facebook Page” (which when you click it asks for a Wikipedia article or official site URL: I don’t understand - anyone else clearer?).
- (What’s significant is that these Community pages are being returned when you search on Facebook, and also being promoted via Social Ads. I first stumbled across one when I saw an ad saying four of my friends allegedly liked Reading. I was curious as to why this somewhat dull town just west of London aroused such passion: it turns out that my friends aren’t alone: over 4 million people apparently like Reading!)
- Facebook are also asking for beta testers for a new product that looks suspiciously like a questions/ answers platform to rival Yahoo Answers and Quora. This gives them another string in their bow to rival Google for queries.
- Google, undoubtedly recognising these risks are rumored to be launching their own Facebook rival, in an attempt to wrest the ownership of identity from Zuckerberg’s sweaty paws.
With Google standing off with China on the eastern front, the battle on the home front is getting more and more interesting. Should Google just Keep Calm and Carry On, or are they right to take the battle to Facebook?
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Selected Further Reading from All Facebook:
