Facebook’s Universal Search is a Game Changer

Two trillion posts. That’s how much social data Facebook has amassed, and now a good portion of those posts will be searchable, with Facebook’s Universal Search. Launching today, Universal Search will provide access to an entire social library – as long as it’s public. The way Facebook puts it, they’ve indexed the world’s conversations and now you’ll have the ability to find out what’s interesting and trending. More importantly, the search will be tailored to each individual user based on history, friends, and pages you like. It’s a massive step in the next evolution of social media.

Why does this matter? How does social searchability change the game? Facebook understands something that Google has yet to tap into. That humans are social, local animals. Zuckerberg once famously stated: “A squirrel dying in front of your house may be more relevant to your interests right now than people dying in Africa.” Search becomes much more impactful and relevant if it is connected to social interactions in a local framework. No doubt about it, this is a major game changer.

What does this mean for marketing? There exists the possibility that future targeting will not only be based on likes or demographic info, but also based on what you’ve posted on Facebook. This ad capability is not currently available, but from our experience it is most definitely an opportunity that it’s in the pipeline.

Yes there are some privacy concerns, like any social platform, and there will be some early resistance. But make no mistake, Facebook is moving forward on its stated course of connecting the entire world and Universal Search is a massive step.