Is Facebook Becoming the New Google Local Search? 

In an effort to make Facebook a place for more than just social interaction, the platform is making major changes to help consumers interact with small businesses. And the change isn’t just affecting the way people use the app—it’s affecting the way they use Google in local searches, too.

Facebook explained that more consumers are using its platform to connect with local businesses—similar to the way Google has a variety of business details listed in its local listings:

“Each week, two out of three people on Facebook visit a local business Page or an Event Page. That's why we're updating Pages and expanding Events and Jobs to make these connections simpler and more valuable. [...] These improvements are a small part of our commitment to help businesses connect with customers. We'll continue to work on new ways to make these connections easier and more valuable to help all businesses grow.”

Facebook recently added new featuresthat make it easier for consumers to get in touch with local small businesses when searching for similar services. This includes:

• Recommendations
• Actions
• Customized business information
• Increased visibility of stories
• Events
• Jobs

Notice any similarities to Google’s local listings? Both offer some of the same information, such as customized business details, actions and recommendations/reviews. Clearly, Facebook is taking a cue from Google as to what information people want to have before they contact a business.

In recent years, Google has been adding more features and tools to make it easier for consumers to contact a business directly from its local listing, rather than going to the company’s website. This has started to take a toll on website traffic, because consumers can call or book an appointment right from their local search, rather than going to the website first.

Now, it seems that Facebook is taking a similar approach within its mobile app by adding features to keep consumers on the app instead of turning to Google to find the business’s website. But the question is, how is Facebook doing compared to Google?

With Facebook changing the way local businesses’ profiles are laid out, they now look and feel more like a web page than a social media profile. If users are already using the app to interact in their social lives, they’re more likely to continue using the same platform, which they’re already comfortable and familiar with, to find a local business.

So, while Facebook might not be taking people off of Google, it’s keeping more users on the social media site to find businesses.

In addition to these added features, Facebook has continually improved its paid advertising platform over the years, making it a close competitorwith Google. Google’s advertising serviceswork by targeting paid ads at searchers who look for a similar product or service in a particular location. So, if you search for running shoes, you’ll see ads for companies that sell running shoes.

However, Facebook lets advertisers be a little more choosy with who they target ads at. You can narrow your ads down to a very specific demographic, and they show up in your target audience’s news feeds, rather than only if they search for a specific product or service. This gives businesses the potential to reach their ideal audience immediately, and hopefully get more conversions as a result.

Is Facebook completely replacing Google for local small businesses? Probably not, but the social media platform is certainly showing that it is committed to upping its game when it comes to customer interaction. Whether your customers are using Google or Facebook to find you, it’s more important than ever to properly manage your local listingand business profile.