Facebook Rolls Out Graph Search to U.S. English Users

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By Kurt Wagner2013-08-07 17:50:38 UTC

Facebook announced Wednesday morning that Graph Search has been formally rolled out to all Facebook users utilizing the network in U.S. English. Graph Search, a relatively new feature unveiled in January, was already in use by some users who chose to opt-in to the feature as beta testers, but will now be automatically available to the rest of the users on the site.

Graph Search enables Facebook users to better curate content from the network or even search for nearby restaurants or music recommendations by their friends. When the feature was first announced, it was viewed by many as a step toward competition with Google in the 'search' category, although Graph Search sticks primarily to Facebook content. In the instance where a search can't successfully return what you're looking for from Facebook, the feature defaults automatically to a web search powered by Microsoft's Bing, not Google.

See also: Facebook: Here's How Your News Feed Works

Now that users can more easily search the site for information on their friends' profiles, they may also want to revisit Facebook's privacy settings to ensure information is shared only with those they approve of. In a post announcing the new change, Facebook highlighted that Graph Search will continue to evolve over time, stating that the company will, "continue to work on other improvements to Graph Search, such as searching for posts, comments and mobile."

There is no potential timeline for mobile integration, nor is there an expected timeline for when Graph Search will be available to users in different languages, according to a Facebook spokesperson.

Image: Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images

Topics: Facebook, Graph Search, microsoft bing, Social Media, social network