Facebook Looking To Take Business From Google

This article originally appeared on 60 Second Social.

Google has had a firm grip on the search engine industry for a long time now. Sure there are rivals in the form of Bing however for many people the ‘go-to’ place when it comes to search has been Google. Well Facebook wants to find a way to keep users on Facebook and away from Google, and they think they may have found it.

Facebook is testing a feature which will allow users to find and post links to articles without having to go near Google, it will all be done in Facebook itself. The new feature is being designed to try and cut out the somewhat awkward experience of copying and pasting a link from Google.

The feature has been made available for some iOS users in the United States and it allows them to click on a new “add a link” button. This button allows them to search for the link they want to use right from within Facebook itself. Once users have picked the link they want then they can add a status and post as normal.

Facebook told TechCrunch that is has indexed more than 1 trillion posts to find which links were being shared and who was sharing them – data which Google does not have access to.

As I have mentioned in previous articles, Facebook wants to build a system where you don’t ever need to venture outside of the service, they want everything to be accessible from within Facebook and available to the user from the website or app.

If it works then there is no doubt that it is going to hurt Google. Around 28% of all internet time is spent by users on Facebook and if they can develop a way for people to find links on Facebook and end the need to look for articles on Google itself then Facebook will be able to steal more attention for themselves.

Facebook is trying to create an online ecosystem where there is less and less reason to actually leave the site itself.

About The Author

Mark is the founder of 60 Second Social media where he provides social media news and digital marketing analysis. He has an Advanced Diploma in Psychology and a Diploma in Digital Marketing And Social Media. You can follow him on Twitter here. You can also follow 60 Second Social on Twitter here. Or you can drop Mark an email at, daltomark@me.com