CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg has made it clear that Facebook has
every intention of giving Google a run for its money by marrying
social networking with one of the most valuable areas of the
technology industry: Search. The Search market represents a “big
opportunity” that Facebook is uniquely positioned to address, said
Zuckerberg at a tech industry conference in San Francisco earlier this
week.
A global survey “Search & Social Survey (2011-2012)” undertaken
earlier in the year by independent digital marketing agency
Greenlight concluded that Facebook could potentially capture close to
a quarter of the Search market were it to launch its own search
engine, making it the second most utilised search engine in every
major market except for China, Japan, and Russia, where it would
occupy an uncontested third place.
What’s more, results from Greenlight’s survey also showed that
Facebook could increase its share to 50% within just a few years.
However, the survey also indicated Google has been more successful
than most and, as such, the agency concludes Google and Facebook will
both be front and centre in ‘Social Search’.
The survey asked respondents if they clicked on advertisements or
sponsored listings in Facebook. The alarming response was that 44%
answered ‘never’!
Greenlight surveyed 500 people – students, law enforcement
professionals, medical staff, accountants, lawyers, the unemployed,
and everyone in between, to ascertain how they engage with online
advertising, search engines and social networks, in order to glean
insights into how consumers engage with marketers today, and formulate
views on what the future might hold.
The survey revealed 5% would ‘definitely’ use a future Facebook search
engine if it were to launch one to rival Google’s. The other extreme,
those categorically saying they simply would not use a future Facebook
search engine, totalled 26% of all respondents. Those responding in
the ‘Definitely’ and ‘Probably’ camps totalled 17%. Those responding
‘No’ and ‘Probably not’ totalled 48%.
