Facebook has recently over taken Google in the US as the most popular website for the first time ever, according to various sources. So what does this mean for the internet and how is the internet evolving? Obviously the reason Facebook has overtaken Google is that internet users simply like it more. To understand why this is happening lets first have a look at Google.
Google began life as a search engine and has dominated the internet soon after it went live. The much talked about algorithm that Google is constantly adjusting has been one of its key advantages in the search market. Although the algorithm has been kept totally secret over the years, small glues have emerged over time to give some indication about how it works. Once webmasters gained clues about how to cheat this algorithm, any flaws were quickly taken advantage of, leaving Google to rethink their algorithm. Although webmasters using these vulnerabilities to their advantage were quickly banned from the Google search results.
The search results returned by Google are the best in the world and that is why they have been such a strong power in the search market, however, the results that are returned are automated and it is really a “try and see” case with most websites that have been returned for search results. Clues as to how the Google algorithm works suggest that if your website is linked to from other sites then your page will rank higher in search results. Essentially what this means is that the people linking to your site trust it and the contents so Google also trusts the content. What this means for Google however is that users are still left with the feeling that Google knows best and we should all praise Google.
Facebook on the other hand allows users to post links and “like” links and share them with their friends. What this means is that Facebook is not recommending the link but the individual users are putting their name on it in a more direct fashion. This is called word of mouth advertising and although Google does this indirectly, Facebook does it a whole lot better. Word of mouth advertising is one of the most powerful types of advertising as simply it does not feel like advertising. It is rather a recommendation by a friend and this type of thing has been around since the beginning of time. It is a whole lot more difficult to cheat a system like that and Google is finding it hard to compete.
With the link searching environment of the internet changing to recommendations from friends, rather than from a search engine, this may mean that finding what you are searching for a little harder. Google will never fully disappear for this reason. People use search engines to get answers to the questions they have, and Facebook is used also for this very same reason. This is just a small part of Facebook though and possibly why it has overtaken Google. Why do you use Facebook and Google?
Google also does a lot more than just their search engine although their services seem more fragmented than Facebooks environment. Google has branched into software and their Chrome browser and soon to be released operating system are some of the best in the world. The Google brand positioning has allowed it to move into this area. Facebook may never be able to branch into software in the same way although their software is equally as good.
Facebook seems to have become more popular than Google by asking, rather than telling. So I ask you, what are your thoughts?
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