Google to index Facebook fan pages
Hot on the heels of it's indexing of Twitter updates, Google has lit the fuse of the rocket to be the king of real-time searching. It is to begin indexing Facebook fan pages.
The lesser level of indexing (it indexes Twitter updates whereas the Facebook indexing will the restricted to fan pages only) is largely due to Facebooks affiliation with Microsoft and it won't want to upset it's best friend too soon. Microsoft's BING indexes Facebook users updates so still holds the upper hand, but Google treading on its territory will be viewed as the battle warming up.
Facebook fan page owners will now benefit from traffic directed to them directly from Google and you can be sure SEO companies across the globe will now be advising clients that a Facebook fan page is rapidly becoming a necessity instead of advantageous.
The Google real-time indexing of Twitter updates has proved incredibly popular and anyone searching the web will now be used to Twitter posts being seen at the head of search returns (often much to their annoyance as the relevance of such posts is still somewhat hit and miss in our opinion). Quite how Microsoft will react is yet to be seen. It has a vested internet in Facebook and Googles access to fan pages alone won't be viewed as a significant threat - but it's a sign of the fact Google continues to be happy to throw spokes in the wheel of the Microsoft engine and maintain its position at the top of the tower.
Does it matter?
Yes, it matters a lot. The continued development of real-time search indexing is becoming big business. The ability to post an update one moment and find yourself top of Google search returns the next is a powerful one.
It should be noted that such benefits are often very short lived, but for breakout news that results in huge volumes of traffic in short periods of time the indexing of social media platforms gives opportunities for website owners to maximise their exposure.
Spurious results are common in our experience and Facebook fan pages will only add to that mix, but those without a Facebook presence would be well advised to reconsider their position in the very near future. We still consider Facebook more of an existing customer communication tool, and a tertiary one at that, and it doesn't have the marketing potential that Twitter offers - but it represents a platform on which to be seen and in this day and age the window to be seen in is not want to shy away from.
