Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s 28-year-old founder and chief executive, introduced the new product at the company’s first major product launch since a rocky initial public offering in May.
“Graph search is designed to take a precise query and return to you the answer, not links to other places where you might get the answer,” Zuckerberg told reporters at its Menlo Park, California, headquarters. “What you’ve seen today is a really different product from anything else that’s out there.”
Facebook shares, which have climbed 15 percent since the start of the year, slid 3 percent Tuesday to just above $30. The product news fell short of some of the most optimistic predictions, which included speculation that the social network would introduce its own smartphone or an Internet search engine.
Dubbed “graph search” because Facebook refers to its growing content, data and membership as the “social graph,” the function will be available at first only as a “beta,” or trial, for just hundreds of thousands of its billion-plus users.
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It will let users browse mainly photographs, people, places and members’ interests. Zuckerberg stressed that people can sort through only content that has been shared with them, addressing potential privacy concerns.
Shares in Yelp dived more than 6 percent on fears that Facebook’s new friends-based search concept will begin to draw users away from the popular reviews site, which also lets people maintain a circle of trusted friends. Google stock held steady.
Some analysts said Facebook may be taking a tiny step toward eventually challenging Google on its home turf, but said that was a much more challenging undertaking and a long-term possibility at best.
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Zuckerberg stressed that the new graph search did not encompass Internet searches, Google’s specialty.
Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia said the product was inevitable. “We think this will enable them to expand beyond display ads and ultimately compete with Google,” he said.
Sybels Infotech 