Facebook Graph Search

NMS POVJanuary 2013

Executive Summary

1 billion people use Facebook. They’ve shared 240 billion photos and 1 trillion connections.

Facebook announced a new feature called Graph Search, which will make it easier for users to navigate this social graph of connections – answering queries with social context such as “restaurants near me that my friends like.”

This POV explains what Graph Search is, how it works, and what it means for the future of Facebook.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

Updated Navigation Bar Design

Graph Search replaces Facebook’s traditional blue-top navigation bar with a larger live search field. It appears prominently across all parts of the desktop Facebook experience.

This interface update will encourage users to make use of Graph Search, beckoning for them to search wherever they are during a Facebook browsing session.

Natural Language Processing Makes Searching Simple

By design, Graph Search is rather intuitive. You pull it up and begin typing a question using natural language.

Graph Search Fills in the Blanks

As you type, it assists you in forming a query by pulling up a range of potential search options on-the-fly.

Personalization and Privacy

Graph Search is privacy aware, meaning that it respects each user’s existing privacy settings. While Facebook will always have its critics, this implementation appears to be very well thought out from a privacy standpoint.

The Difference: Facebook Search is Actually Useful

The old search The new Graph Search:

At first glance, Graph Search could be perceived as a very minor feature change. However comparing it to the old Facebook search bar illustrates how much potential it has to make search a worthwhile part of the Facebook experience.

WHAT CAN I SEARCH FOR?

Initial Search Categories: People, Photos, Places and Interests

Graph Search is a beta product. The beta version allows users to search for people, photos, places, and interests, with plans to make other aspects of Facebook – such as status updates and shared links – searchable in the future.

In describing use cases during a product demo, Mark Zuckerberg noted that “this is where I want to emphasize how early we are in Graph Search.”

Search for People

People-centric searches can be used to discover more about the friends you already have.

This type of search also makes it easier to identify potential connections for networking purposes, such as people who are friends of your friends and work at a specific company.

Search for Photos

Photo search simplifies the process of finding an old photo that was previously buried in an album on a friend’s Timeline.

It can also be used to discover and instantly organize new photos from a specific place or time period – such as “Photos of my friends in New York.”

Search for Places

When we travel to a new city – or even a new neighborhood – we often ask friends who live there for restaurant recommendations.

Graph Search builds on this habit by identifying and sorting Places that friends have been to. This feature will be especially compelling when it becomes available on mobile in the future.

Search by Interests

Graph Search makes it possible to conduct Interest-based queries such as which “languages my friends speak,” or “favorite television shows of my friends.”

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF GRAPH SEARCH?

Facebook Has Become Ubiquitous

Over the past half-decade, Facebook has become almost universal – counting approximately half of the entire U.S. population as active users.

Facebook is so Universal that it is at Risk of Stagnation

This widespread success brings forth a unique risk – that Facebook could become so universal that it loses its appeal.

Writing for The Verge, journalist Ellis Hamburger sums this up perfectly:

“There’s no numerical evidence that Facebook has ‘lost its cool,’ but you can feel it. You hear people talking about it. Instead of seeing Facebook blue illuminating the phones of fellow subway and bus riders, you see Instagram or Snapchat or Twitter. Facebook has become a normal thing — a ’social utility’ everyone uses but few are excited about.”

Graph Search will Help Keep Facebook Compelling

If Facebook began to lose its appeal, users would very slowly begin to input less data into it. And without a continued flow of social data – in the form of Likes, Photo Uploads, Location tags and other signals – the whole network would decline in value and utility. Users wouldn’t leave Facebook altogether under such conditions; however they would return less frequently.

But Facebook is too smart to let the flow of data stagnate, and Graph Search plays a significant role in keeping users engaged.

Once people begin using Graph Search, they will have a stronger incentive to fill out their profiles more fully, check in to more restaurants when they’re out, and upload more photos with accurate location tags. All of these actions feed higher volumes of better data into the system, making Facebook a much more compelling place to come back to again and again.

Timing: Facebook is Playing the Long Game

Graph Search is being rolled out slowly and carefully, with the beta version launching to the public “over the next few weeks and months,” according to the company.

Note: in this context, “tomorrow” means “in the future”

IMPLICATIONS FOR BRANDS

The Hope: That Graph Search Brings us Closer to Intent Data

If I am considering buying a Hyundai, I may turn to Facebook to search for friends who like Hyundai, photos of friends cars, or even car dealerships my friends have been to. I may even eventually be able to search for more complex queries such as cars my friends own or cars my friends are satisfied with.

In this case, Hyundai and competing automakers would ideally be able to identify and capitalize on my intent to purchase by surfacing a test drive offer or a sponsored photo of their newest model. Facebook is not offering any new ad products alongside the beta launch of Graph Search, so this sequence is – for the time being – a hypothetical.

However if Graph Search gains traction, we anticipate the eventual launch of tools for brands and organizations to capitalize on the purchase intent expressed through Graph Searches.

The Reality: Wait for Initial Rollout Before Taking Action

It can be tempting to predict what Graph Search will mean for brands and organizations; however doing so is premature at this time.

Currently, Graph Search is being used exclusively by a small contingent of Facebook employees and reporters. Full comprehension of the implications for brands requires observation of how normal people – outside of hyper-connected Facebook insiders – use the product.

Once Graph search is released to the public in the coming weeks, NMS will be publishing a follow-up POV with actionable guidance for brands and organizations.

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