Google and Facebook are rarely looked at as competitors at first glance.  When you think of Google’s top competitor, Yahoo comes to mind. Likewise, Facebook’s top competitor is often thought to be MySpace.  However a change has begun, and Facebook is prepared to go toe-to-toe with the search giant for a battle of all that is online.

It’s reasonable to think Facebook could challenge Google as the top online entity.  For a long time internet search has pretty much been defined with Google’s rigorous and impersonal algorithms that retrieve information at its user’s request. With Facebook’s growing population (approximately 1 in 5 internet users now have accounts) and loyal customer base (spending approximately 20 minutes ”Facebooking” daily) the site can offer something Google has yet been able to match- a personal internet experience.

Now imagine you are searching for a new dentist, but the fear of some lunatic drilling away at your pearly whites for no good reason is in the back of your head. What is your next step?  Are you going to search for a dentist in your area on Google, or ask a friend for advice? What if you could combine both?  This is Facebook’s masterplan for the future, thus creating a more personal internet.  Instead of making a decision based on a page of results pulled by Google, Facebook sees a decision being made on the internet, but with the ability to look to your Facebook peers for advice, opinions, and information. From reviews of products, restaurants, and TV shows- to job hunting and hiring- to pretty much any other decision that can be influenced, Facebook eventually hopes to become a one-stop-internet-shop for anything and everything on the internet.

Facebook’s plans for the future may seem unrealistic and even impossible to some. However, some probably thought the same about a technology like Google 20 years ago.

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