Facebook Going In For The Kill; Facebook’s New in-App “Add A Link” Mobile Search Engine Allows Users To Skip Googling
Mobile link sharing is a awkward, lengthy and a complicated procedure of app switching and copy and pasting. In order to get more people to post links, Facebook has started testing an internal search engine for its mobile app that lets you search websites and articles to add to your status updates.
Some iOS users can now see an ‘add a link’ option alongside ‘add photos, locations and feelings’, according to a report by Techcrunch. Basically, users can search a keyword or put in a query in the link function and Facebook will then show a list of related news articles that one can post, let you tap on it to add it to your status with a caption or share statement and let you see what is on those sites. The results look to be sorted by what users are most likely to share, highlighting recently published sites that have been posted by lots of people.
This new change is being tested to make it easy to search and share on mobile devices. In other words, one will no longer have to search, copy the URL and then paste it while using mobile phones. The report states that the update is targeted at ‘Facebook’s recent effort to get publishers to post content directly to the site’.
If it is made available to all users, it would let them search and access content within Facebook, without the need for ‘Googling’ or leaving the social network or browsing through Facebook’s News Feed to find a link to share. Further, it would let the users share more news and other publisher-made content by using the “Add A Link” button. Not only does that fill the News Feed with posts that Facebook can put ads next to. It also gives it organized data about the kind of news and publishers you care about, as well as the interests of your friends depending on if they click or Like your story.
Many digital news organizations use Facebook to share their contents and this step will help strengthen its position as a content host. “By hosting content and allowing users to search for stories in its own app, Facebook is making it easy to read and share news without ever actually leaving Facebook,” the report adds.
Currently, there is no news if the update will be made available to everyone. It has also been reported that the user’s frequently visited websites or the sites with a higher rating are more favored.
