Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg admits that his company will enter the search business at some point in future, which indicates that the social media giant could be interested in pursuing new business areas. While speaking to TechCrunch, Zuckerberg expressed that Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) will definitely join the business, dominated by Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), adding that , his company is already processing 1 billion queries a day, despite the fact that it is yet to try the new frontier, notes Jefferies Equity Research.
Facebook allows users to search for people, places, brand pages, and apps, among others. This is what Zuckerberg believes could be a big opportunity for the Social networking company, as it could help people locate good sushi restaurants, or locate people who have worked for a specific company.
Actually, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has already assembled a team to work on its dream search engine, as it tries to capitalize on the 1 billion queries it receives on a daily basis. Nonetheless, Jefferies Equity Research analysts believe that Facebook’s biggest challenge still will be monetization, just as is the case of its ad campaign.
Additionally, the analysts note that Facebook will also face the predicament of having a narrow scope of its search limits, which currently overlap with the market leader Google. Furthermore, the company will also be facing competition from Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Bing, and Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), within its local market. Internationally, it will meet the likes of Baidu.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU), the Chinese giant, which dominates the greater china market, among other players.
Zuckerberg did however, rule out the possibility of the company coming up with its own smartphone, saying that the notion has always been the wrong strategy. He then added, if the company was to develop its own smartphone and sell approximately10-20 million iPhone users, then this would be materially insignificant.
He then said that the company intends to have every mobile device integrated with Facebook, in a belief that this would be a smarter move to take. There was no News of Facebook OS, which means that there is still chance that the company could eventually come up with its own O.S.
However, the CEO did mention something to do with new app, Mobile App Install product, which gives developers the ability to pay per install, with bidding / targeting systems similar to ad network. With this product, developers can target specific markets and demographics, and also specify how much they are willing to pay per install.
Zuckerberg said that the product did deliver a good return on income for the initial partners at the private testing phase. Jefferies Equity research says, “the strategy is interesting and could be a way for Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) to insert itself into the app buying process across a broad array of devices.”
Another key issue highlighted during Zuckerberg’s conversation with TechCrunch was Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB)’s plans for its mobile platforms. The CEO emphasized on the company’s commitment to enhancing its mobile platform and monetization of the same, by highlighting Facebook’s developments over the last six months.
“We are now a mobile company,” Zuckerberg noted. “In the past six months, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) ran its first mobile ads, introduced a fast new iOS app, and announced deep integration with Apple’s upcoming iOS 6 (expected on the iPhone 5), which will feature Facebook in default apps, like calendar, contacts, and even the App Store. A new Android app is in the works, and we expect enhancements to the current iOS app,” said Zuckerberg.
As at the time of this writing, Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) stock was trading at $20.73, during pre-market session, up $1.30, from yesterday’s close of $19.43. Jefferies Equity Research has a price target of $30.00 for the social network giant.
