Can Facebook Inc (FB)’s Graph Search Compete With Google Inc (GOOG)?

Voice search and mobile platforms

Facebook currently has 751 million mobile users, which makes it an integral part of any hardware or software companies’ mobile strategy. However, Facebook has always been considered a social app, and one that ties into other games and apps that to connect via Facebook. It hasn’t been able to establish the sprawling ecosystem that Google has created over the past five years.

For Facebook, another challenge looms on the horizon – voice search. Ever since Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) introduced Siri in October 2011, the mobile market has been enamored with adding voice search capabilities to mobile devices. Back in May, I discussed the voice search battle between Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), which kicked off when Google added its voice search capabilities to its Google Now app on iOS.

Since Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has been trying to decrease its dependence on Google, it recently announced that Microsoft Bing would become Siri’s default search engine in iOS7, in an effort to reduce iOS users’ dependence on Google search. Since Google and Apple both firmly believe that voice search, although imperfect in today’s state, will eventually become the future of mobile search, will Graph Search be completely cut out of the loop? Or will Facebook need to add or integrate voice search capabilities to keep up with the times?

The Foolish Bottom Line

Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) is like a hermit crab that has grown too big for its shell. It’s already smashed out of its original one – social networks – and now needs a new shell to grow into. Graph Search is a truly innovative idea to capitalize on the growth of the social network, but its growth depends on too many variables – the number of friends, their sharing behavior, and their willingness to constantly share personal information online.

Even if Graph Search grows the way Zuckerberg intends it to do, users will still be stuck in a walled garden in which search queries might be more personal, but far less reliable than a simple search on Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG). However, I believe that Graph Search could still be a valuable tool for advertisers to craft targeted advertising.

In conclusion, Graph Search will be an interesting experiment for Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), but I seriously doubt that it is the game changer that everyone has been waiting for.

The article Can Facebook’s Graph Search Compete With Google? originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Leo Sun.

Leo Sun owns shares of Apple and Facebook. The Motley Fool recommends Apple, Facebook, and Google. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple, Facebook, and Google. Leo is a member of The Motley Fool Blog Network — entries represent the personal opinion of the blogger and are not formally edited.

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