Facebook To Compete With Google, Yelp With New 'Graph Search'

DENVER (CBS4) - There's a new feature on Facebook that allows users to be more social. It's called "Graph Search."

Graph Search is a new way to search within the site and your connections. Unlike Google, where you type in a keyword, with Facebook you can hunt for things more naturally by narrowing down different fields.

The Graph Search is focused on people, photos, places and interests. A simple example is searching for restaurants in Denver, or music my friends like. Take it to another level and you can search for friends in New York that like the show "Fringe."

Another example Mark Zuckerberg gave was searching for Mexican restaurants in Palo Alto that his friends had visited. That way you could reach out to friends to get recommendations if the place is any good.

If you meet someone, but forgot their full name, there's a way to do that.

The search can also help in professional connections. Maybe you want to search for a doctor or dentist that is liked by your friends.

Facebook is taking on Yelp and Linkedin with the new Graph Search. It's also taking on Google by letting you search for some things outside of your circle of friends. For example, search for restaurants in your area liked by graduates of the Culinary Institute of America, and you just found something that not even Google can give you.

You have to sign up on a waitlist to try out the new feature. It's still a beta product.