Google to start showing Facebook content in search results
Facebook is set to begin allowing data from its mobile app to show up in Google searches, as the tech giant unexpectedly gives its rival a boost.
Google search results on smartphones will begin displaying some content from the Facebook app, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal. A Facebook spokesperson said:
When people search for public Facebook content on the mobile web, those who use Facebook for Android can now click through and go straight to the Facebook app.
In other words, this only goes for information that’s public, like public profiles, pages or events. Google won’t be able to display any information locked into the site, that you can only access by logging into Facebook. For this, users will have to continue to use Facebook’s own internal search.
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This news will come as a welcome boost for Google, as the search giant works to stay relevant with internet use moving more and more to mobile apps that it cannot automatically index.