If there was any doubt that Facebook and Google were on collision course, the recent patent that Facebook was awarded regarding certain types of search algorithms should dispel that. The social networking giant has managed to patent the “ranking of search results based on the frequency of clicks on the search results by members of a social network who are within a predetermined degree of separation.” In simpler terms, this means that you’ll be served up search results based on what your friends have clicked. Even sponsored links are also affected by the frequency of clicks on the search results by members of the social network. Will such a patent worry Google in any way? We’ll have to sit tight and see what happens next.
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