Facebook wants users to share articles with new search engine

Facebook is testing a new search engine that will allow users to share links to articles on the social networking site. In the status update input field, some users will see a button to add an article link.

TechCrunch discovered that. The site has since received confirmation from Facebook that a new search engine for articles is being worked on. Facebook says it will soon provide more information about the new functionality. According to TechCrunch, article sharing is already being tested: some users will see a new button in the status update input field, which can be used to search for articles. A series of articles is presented on the basis of keywords, which are sorted by popularity.

In order to present links, Facebook has indexed a trillion status updates. As a result, the company knows which articles are popular on the social network. For the time being, the “add a link” button only works for a select group of users in the United States, but it is likely that a rollout to other countries will follow in due course.

With the search engine, Facebook probably hopes that users will share more content on the social networking site. The company hopes that its users will spend more time on the site. There are also rumors that Facebook is trying to persuade publishers to publish their content on the site. For that, they would receive a larger portion of the advertising revenue. This should also ensure that users stay on the site.