FaceBook Passes Google As Driver of Search Traffic

[Brett_Tabke]

[sfgate.com...]

Facebook has passed search-engine giant Google to become the top source for traffic to major portals like Yahoo and MSN, and is among the leaders for other types of sites.

This trend is shifting the way Web site operators approach online marketing, even as Google takes steps to move into the social-media world.

Some experts say social media could become the Internet's next search engine.

"People are spending less time navigating the Internet on their own and are now navigating the Internet based on their friends' recommendations or their friends' activities," said Dave Yovanno, chief executive of Gigya Inc., a Palo Alto firm that offers social-media services. "That's one of the big trends we started picking up on probably four or five months ago."

[BaseballGuy]

Am I the only person out there who doesn't have a facebook/social media profile and just enjoys plain 'ol searching on normal Google?

When I'm looking for information, I want it quickly and I want it now and I want it relevant. I don't care what my friends recommend, I don't care about what corporation is spending millions of advertising dollars to try and reach me via a slick social media campaign.

I really hope Google doesn't start moving towards social media in any big way that could affect the SERPS. I might actually have to start using Bing as my search engine.

So what if 1 million other people who live in my city recommend "X" restaurant as the best place to get sushi. I don't care. Show me another place that is away from the crowds that I would want to try.

If everyone else went on Facebook and recommended jumping off a 1000' foot cliff.....would you want to do it?

And just so you know....my age range is the target demographic of the social media sites. So it's not like I'm 90 years old reminiscing about the good 'ol days when letters were delivered by guys on horseback.

I just completely disagree with this whole social media phenomenon. I hope it goes away someday and we return to how things were in the good old days of search.

[Zacharias]

I completely agree baseballguy

Although I dont think things will change much. Google is the best form of information retrieval and this is a basic function of most peoples lives

The problem seems to be that Google results are being found and then ending up on facebook - a sort of infiltration, which naturally scares Google, so they want a piece of it.

Adaptation will be necessary for us to embrace the uses of social media, but I cant see it being the be all and end all to information retrieval. Also if put to the test, social media has been around for a long long time, look at webmasterworld for instance, its just websites are getting bigger/more popular now and they are also more widely being utilised by the masses.

IMHO search shouldnt be commercial, its too important for education of the population, but thats a whole other topic!

[KenB]

@BaseballGuy,

I do have Digg and Twitter profiles, but I don't have a Facebook, MySpace or similar social media profile.

[cwnet]

Things ARE changing and Google is going to loose out.

It seems that Google's technocratic approach is beginning to backfire.

The Buzz disaster is just the beginning...

[webmasterworld.com...]

[BaseballGuy]

@cwnet

Glad I'm not the only one who lol'ed a bit when first seeing the buzz thingy. So basically I use another portal (google buzz) to view what my friends on the twitter portal are saying....when any given message could just have easily been sent via email.

My god....give me substance and intelligence over what Brittney Spears just twittered on her myspace page about facebook, while watching American Idol. (I personally would like to thank Ford and Coke for sponsoring the last paragraph).

This is a disaster waiting to happen for Google.


To me, this social media stuff is fun to look at while at work (reddit and digg...always good for teh lulz) but anything else is just an unintelligent use of the web, and major corporations see a bunch of people standing around in on proverbial place and throw millions of dollars at it to try and get more sales...

When major corporations (and the masses) get involved in something, it completely ruins it for the rest of us. If that day comes, I have a contingency plan. It's back to mIRC and the bulletin boards for me. No glamor, no glitz and thank god no celebrities and major corporations.
In my uneducated opinion.

[edited by: BaseballGuy at 12:16 am (utc) on Feb 16, 2010]

[TheMadScientist]

This actually makes Google's 'one-right-answer' idea much easier...
Google can frame FB and let you login to your account from the SERPs.

So much for the theory FB is just another website set to disappear soon, and in reality, why would I want to search when I probably know someone who either does what I'm looking for or has a friend who does and can give me a personal recommendation?

Yeah, I wish search was simply search, but those of you who aren't on FB are in the minority of 'avid Internet users' ... I have relatives who look at my sites for about two seconds and say 'neato'. They don't use the Internet for anything other than FB. They don't use Google. They don't know what Bing is. They all have FaceBook accounts and IMO will think anything Google does in this area is a copy of someone else, and, well, no offense G employees, but it really is.

Edited: Clarification and specificity.

[edited by: TheMadScientist at 12:25 am (utc) on Feb 16, 2010]

[BaseballGuy]

I might be giving my identity away....and would like to start this sentence with the statement:

I live in Mongolia.

But, I just met a girl online and one of the first things out of her mouth was: "So, what's your facebook and myspace links?"

I tried to hold my tongue as best I could and simply replied "I have a bit of a problem with those sites, and simply choose not to use them".

This is a 30 year old woman, college educated who asked me that question.

[zeus]

BaseballGuy - nah I also never had any social network profile, why should you, you real friends you can only count with one hand.

I also hope google keeps being a SE but it looks like they are moving into social networks also.

[Brett_Tabke]

Continued here:
[webmasterworld.com...]