For the past 12 years, Google has steadily lead pretty much all of us forward. Then one day Mark Zuckerberg and crew show up, and suddenly it looks like we are about to witness another generational battle. If Facebook diversifies just a little bit more, I think it can actually knock Google out of the race. In that spirit, I offer the following seven business ventures Facebook should pursue if it wants to make Google the new AOL:
1. Facebook Web Search
Facebook’s social media dominance is a result of Social Media Optimization (SMO). What makes SMO important is that it is a lot like search engine optimization, the technology that made Google successful, except that this time around you don’t have to search for anything. SMO algorithms take the biographical information you feed to Facebook and analyze them to see what you are more likely to buy. They use that information to target you with very specific ads.
All of that is great. But wouldn’t it be better if you could search the whole internet from your Facebook page? And if you could do that, Facebook could use your search information to supplement their SMO. This could only make their ad targeting even more effective.
2. BrowseBook
Using the same argument that justifies Facebook Web Search, Facebook should look in to creating their own internet browser. This cuts out the middle man (e.g., Apple, Microsoft, and Mozilla) and could seriously improve how we interact with social content by building in RSS and chat tools that cut down on load time and network traffic. Now, it should be pointed out that this is exactly what their iOS and Android apps do already. And one need only take a look at that whole Flock debacle to remind oneself that social media browsers don’t exactly have a history of success. But given the right research into customer satisfaction and human-computer interaction, I think if anyone can pull it off, it’s Facebook.
3. Semantic Processing Technology
There are a whole bunch of academics out there trying to figure out how language and meaning work at all, and there are even more trying to figure out how to get computers to parse natural human language. This is incredibly tough, as it turns out. However, imagine how much better Facebook would be at target lead generation if they could get it work well!
4. Artificial Intelligence Research
Think: Cleverbot, but even more clever. I am building here again off of the previous suggestion, but all manner of possibility lay in wait for social media/artificial intelligence interaction. One not-so-far-fetched implementation might consist in every Facebook user having an assigned AI buddy that chats with them, can answer their questions, and foregrounds important events embedded in the information in the users data feed. This would be even more usable if it could have a personality that is based on the user’s content.
The benefits of fostering this sort of research really goes both ways: Facebook could learn more about their users, and scientists could learn more about how people’s minds work.
5. The Recommended Viewing Channel
Honestly, I am kind of surprised that Facebook hasn’t teamed up with Netflix or Hulu to pull this off on their own already. Your favorite shows are one of the first things you fill out on your Facebook profile. Why not implement a streaming video channel that selects new shows for you based on what the already know?
6. A better community management system
Reddit is a fantastically successful example of user-generated structure and content. There are thousands of “subreddits” (communities) in which users interact all the time. Facebook has yet to be able to pull this off – I think that if they really want to become great, they will have to do more to integrate topic-driven communities.
7. The Facebook Phone
Why not? The parts and labor are cheap, they obviously have the money, and let’s be frank here – Social Media Optimization couldn’t possibly be more thorough than being the engine that powers your smartphone.
For Facebook to be the new Google, it needs new ways to target users. Search optimization, novel content along with novel means of interacting with that content, and overall diversification beyond its URL and mobile apps are the best ways to achieve this.