Article from Searchenginewatch.com

August 10, 2009

Facebook's FriendFeed Acquisition Could Have Implications for Search (Yes, Search)

Facebook has acquired FriendFeed, a social media aggregator. As Facebook has looked recently to improve and expand features like its live feed and search, this acquisition makes a lot of sense.

FriendFeed makes it easy to share social media updates such as Tweets, blogs, and yes, Facebook updates all in one place. Facebook also enables updates, but through applications and APIs. In other words, it's just a heckuva lot easier on FriendFeed.

The implications for search could be big. Facebook has been testing search for its live feed. This is most obviously an attempt to compete with Twitter, but the FriendFeed acquisition could be a game-changer.

FriendFeed has already incorporated real-time search site-wide. Bringing that functionality to all of Facebook, with its 250 million users and tons of fan pages and marketing conducted by brands could mean people finding what they're searching for on the site where they hang out socially. Recent data has shown search on social media sites to be on the rise.

Oh yeah, did I mention FriendFeed was founded by a couple of ex-Googlers?

FriendFeed has always had the potential to change the face of search, but the site wasn't picking up in popularity like Twitter and Facebook. For Facebook, this could speed up the implementation of real-time search, which they really need to do. The acquisition looks like a win-win for both parties.

If you're not already marketing on Facebook, this acquisition is a pretty big sign to begin doing so - and sooner rather than later.

Posted by Nathania Johnson on August 10, 2009 3:40 PM