During a press event on January 15, 2013, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, announced their latest product, called Graph Search. The product is in very early beta right now, and many people, including me, have gained access by requesting it on the Introducing Graph Search page on Facebook.
What is Graph Search?
Facebook says you can use Graph Search to find more of the people, photos, places and interests you’re looking for through your friends and connections. After about a week of testing, I can confirm this is true. I have spent hours testing a variety of searches, trying to figure out both how business owners can optimize their pages to rank higher in Graph Search and how they can use it to find prospects.
Graph Search has the potential to change the search game, and eventually they will turn it into a revenue generating product to keep their investors happy. In the meantime, though, take a look at the new layout of the top blue bar once you enable Graph Search.
What do you notice?
Where it says “Search for people, places and things” is the new search box. It’s a very different look than the traditional empty white box, and may not be obvious to the average user at first. Clicking in this area drops down a few suggested searches, such as my friends, photos of my friends, and restaurants nearby.
What else do you notice, though?
All the notification and navigation icons and links have moved to the far right side, directly above the ads on the right side of the page, and exactly the same width.
Coincidence? I say no.
When we go to Facebook on the web, our eyes are drawn to the red notification icons. By moving them directly above the ads, they are drawing our eyes toward those ads, which will lead to more clicks for advertisers. It’s working because I never paid any attention to Facebook ads before I got Graph Search. Now I’m noticing more ads than ever!
Am I right?
My friend Jonathan Brewer thinks so.
About Collin Kromke
