This morning was a special one: this writer's Facebook account was finally welcomed into the new Graph Search format.
After covering the launch of Graph Search, and several posts surrounding the new feature, now its time to actual determine what this means in the wild.
Photos and videos are much more prominent...
It's extremely easy to now browse through media tagged to a particular place or category of business nearby. This means that UGC is going to become much more prominent for users, and will push down business-created content.
One clear advantage here is for businesses that encourage guests to post to social media.
By taking the initiative to push guests to post geo-tagged content, savvy businesses will be able to saturate the organic search feed on Facebook with images from their brands. This is another area where socially-engaged brands will fare better - and deliver more ROI on their long-term investment in the Facebook platform.
It's also a new way to explore content from pages that a user likes - another potential point of contention with users and opportunity for brands:
..and so are potentially embarassing pieces of content
This new Graph Search is using location to uncover pieces of content that would normally have only been found via a deep dive into the social network.
Many users don't understand the "Public" setting for shared content, and are likely unaware that Facebook's Terms state: "When you publish content or information using the Public setting, it means that you are allowing everyone, including people off of Facebook, to access and use that information, and to associate it with you (i.e., your name and profile picture)."
For example, for a search of "Videos from Hotels Nearby," this is one of the gems that shows up from New Orleans:
Is this good for hotels?
In some ways, it may be detrimental, especially given the general quality of UGC videos. However, for a smart hotel capable of seeding the feed with videos, this could be a magnificent opportunity to engage organically with potential customers. Especially for brands competing in a smaller, less saturated market, the framework is ideal for accumulating brand-positive user generated content.
Users can find businesses easier - and engage
Engaging with brand pages is already an essential feature of Facebook - and Graph Search just brings this more to forefront. Rather than simply looking for tours and activities for a trip, or searching for a restaurant via Yelp, users can do these searches straight from the place they spend so much time on - Facebook.
The added advantage here is the wealth of personal data that Facebook has, allowing for deep interpersonal connections that frame the Facebook experience in new ways.
Friends who visited places:
Restaurants in a location:
Friends who visited a restaurant in a particular location (notice the extensive option under Extend This Search):
Taken together, this is a whole new way to experience the connections that drive Facebook's worldwide popularity.
Find friends who have been to a place or live in a place
On the recommendation front, Graph Search is clearly ready to give location-based recommendation services like Foursquare and Yelp a run for their money.
Users can search for friends that have visited a particular place, and see which businesses they have visited or interacted with. This is a level of social proof that could very well factor into the trip planning equation for Facebook users.
Intent, intent, intent
This is the underpinning of all the above observations: Facebook has now created an intent-based product for its users. And, most importantly, for its advertisers.
For example, hotels can now be searched via friends who've stayed there, via ratings, maps, photo and videos. Additional criteria can be used to refine or extend the search.
It's not hard to imagine a simply "Book This" widget, similar to Google Hotel Finder, that allows Facebook advertisers to double-down on their investment. By clearly connecting social to a sales channel, Facebook will have deflated one of the primary arguments against further investment in the platform.
Without a doubt, each search is going to be used by Facebook to further refine and define demographics of users for sale to advertisers. The network's Terms of Service point out that users "understand that we may not always identify paid services and communications as such."
In addition, Facebook is given "the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (IP License)." Basically, this allows the network to use - and monetize - any published content through its suite of services, including Graph Search.
By taking the giant tsunami of media posted daily on Facebook and making it available through a semantic search skin, the company is on track to build a giant behemoth of a revenue stream.
The opportunities are endless: a local intent search for "Los Angeles" can lead to a bevy of LA-related ads through the rest of the Facebook experience. Advertisers of all stripes are salivating - but for travel brands, this is even more valuable. Travel is an inherently visual medium, so the ability to drive more intent-based traffic via social is going to lead to a much more conversion-focused social strategy for many brands.
Graph Search is slowly going to change the way both people and brands interact on Facebook, and could be a watershed moment in the network's life.
By redefining the search experience, Facebook is redefining the user experience - and for better or worse, this is the new reality on Facebook.
What opportunities do you see for travel brands in this new paradigm?