Social networking giant Facebook is currently testing a new system of ranking search results from its internal search engine based on the number of times they have been ‘liked’ by Facebook users.
The new search results are ranked according to the global number of users who have ‘liked’ the article or web page, but are also tailored to the individual performing the search – they make the number of a given user’s friends who liked a particular web page a secondary criterion for the results displayed.
The new results reflect the technology disclosed in a recently-approved patent awarded to Facebook for ranking search results “based on the frequency of clicks on the search results by members of a social network who are within a predetermined degree of separation.”
Results within Facebook have also become more relevant with the inclusion of recent news articles from its news feed. Thus far results are only available in a drop-down box but are expected to move to Facebook’s main search area in the near future.
This new method of search ranking is taking into account the increasingly social nature of the internet, where ‘like’ buttons and other social media plugins are gaining in importance. Facebook’s style of search could become the go-to method for finding articles or content that has been pre-vetted by your friends and the wider Facebook community, in effect guaranteeing greater relevance to the individual.
As search within Facebook becomes more popular, search engine optimisation will also become more focused on integrating websites with social networks. Social search could also have a large impact on the burgeoning market for social e-commerce if products are ranked according to the same method.
Facebook has yet to officially announce the new functionality or explain its workings in detail.
