Graph Search Is Facebook’s New Search Engine

Facebook just launched today, Tuesday, its new search engine dubbed as Graph Search. The new feature is available now in a very limited beta program for American audiences.

According to the Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, “Graph Search is designed to show you the answer and not links to answers.”

Graph Search and web search are very different. Web search is designed to take a set of keywords (for example: “hip hop”) and provide the best possible results that match those keywords. With Graph Search you combine phrases (for example: “my friends in New York who like Jay-Z”) to get that set of people, places, photos or other content that’s been shared on Facebook.

The first version of Graph Search focuses on four main areas — people, photos, places, and interests.

– People: “friends who live in my city,” “people from my hometown who like hiking,” “friends of friends who have been to Yosemite National Park,” “software engineers who live in San Francisco and like skiing,” “people who like things I like,” “people who like tennis and live nearby”

– Photos: “photos I like,” “photos of my family,” “photos of my friends before 1999,” “photos of my friends taken in New York,” “photos of the Eiffel Tower”

– Places: “restaurants in San Francisco,” “cities visited by my family,” “Indian restaurants liked by my friends from India,” “tourist attractions in Italy visited by my friends,” “restaurants in New York liked by chefs,” “countries my friends have visited”

– Interests: “music my friends like,” “movies liked by people who like movies I like,” “languages my friends speak,” “strategy games played by friends of my friends,” “movies liked by people who are film directors,” “books read by CEOs”

The Graph Search beta starts today. Go to www.facebook.com/graphsearch to get on the waitlist.