Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
FACEBOOK IS TESTING its own search engine, which will allow users to find and post links to articles without venturing anywhere near Google.
The new feature is part of Facebook’s plan to keep internet users within its own ecosystem, stopping them from ending their mobile browsing session because of the awkward experience of finding, copying, and pasting a link from Google.
Some users of Apple’s iOS mobile system in the US can now click on a new “add a link” button, which allows them to search for the link they want to share from within Facebook’s app.
The keyword search sorts results by the likelihood they have of being shared, prioritising newer or highly shared articles. Once users have picked articles they want from the results list, they can publish comments or status updates as normal. It is not clear whether Facebook’s search engine is looking for links inside Facebook or externally on the web.
Facebook told TechCrunch it had indexed more than 1 trillion posts to find out which posts were being shared and who had shared them — data to which Google doesn’t have access.
The entire scheme is part of a larger ploy to keep users on Facebook. The social network has already announced plans to host articles natively on the News Feed and split ad revenue favourably with publishers.
If Facebook sells an ad, it will keep just 30% of its revenue, The Wall Street Journal reports. To woo publishers, the site is considering giving them 100% of revenue from ads they sell on Facebook-hosted news sites.
If it works, it will hurt Google. About 28% of all internet time is spent by users on Facebook. If Facebook search can end the need for people to look on the web for articles via Google, Facebook may steal even more of that attention.
As native advertising grows, Google’s advertising business faces more challenges on mobile especially. The company lost mobile ad market share in 2014, according to eMarketer, down to 38.2% in 2014 from 46% in 2013.
Facebook’s ad share rose to 17.4% in 2014 from 16.4% in 2013. Google has had a boost in the first three months of 2015, as the lower rates charged for mobile advertising, which had previously worried investors, were outweighed by the number of ads sold.
By making it easy to find and recommend articles and other sites, Facebook is creating an ecosystem that — the company hopes — will give users less and less reason to leave.
Sounds suspiciously like the start of privatisation like they did in the uk. Spend millions of tax-payers money to modernise the system and then sell it off for less than what they spent on it…
What’s new.
So instead of privatising it we should continue to prop it up and waste tax payers money in the process is it?
It’s a profitable company brainiac, costing the taxpayer feck all
In rural community’s,the post office is often the only social outlet for the elderly,who get out on a Friday,they also spend most of their money in the local community,also the postmistress/master are the first point of contact for the same people and i personally know people who had their lives saved by the postmistress who became concerned by pensioners missing their pension day collection,and sent someone out to check on them,i know its hard for urbanites to understand,but the post office is a vital link for small rural community’s…
Yes great news, slash the workforce, put more people on the dole, make people work harder with longer hours, privatise it and let every penny of profit go to shareholders, that’s the most important thing in life, profit at any cost. Why are people so brainwashed in to automatically thinking modernising is a good thing. Most of the time it’s not.
Making money for shareholders should be any employees only concern in life.
An Post is yet another state linked institution with a massive legacy of inefficiency and money waste. Anything which can be done to make my taxes spent in a modern and progressive way I am in favour of.
John, how exactly are your taxes spent on An Post?
Just hand over another 100 million to a group of ‘consultants’. Problem solved.
Didn’t they already get the social welfare contract last year?
Pretty sure there was a story on it here.
Unions have the place ruined
Never mind An Post, sort out the recent controversies!
Recent controversies will be sorted by the use of red herrings and time. With enough red herrings like this, people will forget the controversy.
I have to drive three miles to post a letter, how big would the investment be to put in more post boxes, post men and women deliver to my house everyday so why can’t I post a letter neat to my home? This would make me more likely to use the post and generate business for the post office but they would rather look for government handouts than boost their own sales by servicing their customers better.
Yep, the US postmen will pickup outgoing mail from a postbox when doing deliveries.
But the postbox system was shot down here years ago I believe.
Shame though.
Why don’t you just give the letter to the postman?? If you have a stamp on it there is no problem.
Jeremy, I can just imagine the Union meeting over that one!
I’ll tell you this, if Madame Lafarge (aka Burton) makes any attempt to withdraw the current contracts from An Post both the Dail and her constituency offices should be picketed. Yet another attempt to cripple services that are extensively used by low income people. Shame.
I thought Thatchers policies died with her…clearly her legacy lives on as I assume by “modernise” they mean “privatise”…we need national change and reform get these corrupt crooks out of the country never mind government
Kind of reminds me of how shop keepers give out about the loss to their business from illegal cigarettes.
What’s wrong with it the way it is?? Post next day for a fair fee, better than most countries. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it…
sell it off , its just another dying on the vine monopoly
About ten years ago (maybe twelve), I worked on a project for the US post office where we developed software which allowed people to print their own postage instead of buying stamps. They had to buy a roll (or sheets) of security sticker paper from the post office, that came in about 120 units if memory serves me correctly.
Next they download a piece of software and buy credit from the post office. On their first purchase for a nominal fee (think it was $10), there were sent a USB weighing scales for up to 2kg. This hooked up to your computer & interfaced with the software & calculated the correct postage that would then print (assuming you had credit).
It’s one of the reasons that ebay grew so big so fast, people could sell anything & just print their postage & once the weight was under 2kg, they just put it in the mailbox & put the flag up. No need to leave the house/office.
In the afternoon, the mailman would drive round & pick up the mail to go out & it would be delivered the next day.
Admittedly the USPS looses billions annually (due to defined pensions), but they need to think along those lines.
have your say