Facebook gets almost as much pageviews as Google, making it more than just a space where you stay in touch with friends. If you are willing to admit that user generated content is the thing of the future, then you should admit that there might be a lot of valuable content on Facebook. A lot of people are aware of this as close to 20 percent of searches are performed on social media. Google has recognized the importance of social media as it announced social search today. This new feature is complementing the Twitter and real-time search markets that Google is trying to dominate. Being the market leader, the search engine giant is betting on every slot of the emerging trends in search.

Social media is so important that most companies have built a Facebook page where they can announce and do promotional stuff. After all, the concepts of staying in touch and getting feedback from customers and creating brand awareness fit too well with social media. I don’t know if you agree, but I think that the search engine market is dead already; at least until a firm comes with a radically new way of analyzing, organizing and presenting data. Most of the benefits that firms can get out of SEO are already well documented and established. Top keywords have been conquered long time ago and it is unlikely that page rankings change drastically in the future.

Social media optimization on the other hand still has a lot to offer because of its interactive nature. Inbound marketing simply goes to another level. With social media, marketing is not just about doing the necessary to get found by customers. It is more about getting to know the customers by conversing with them. Because of its nature, I believe that Facebook and social media in general have a good chance of being an alternative platform for search. The question is: if people are looking so much for information on Facebook, why should they be using Google?