????谷歌（Google）在2007年發布免費文字處理和制表軟件時，并沒有打算立刻推翻微軟（Microsoft）的Office套件。畢竟，谷歌的軟件比起Word和Excel來說存在不足——現在仍是如此。不過它們的發布揭開了蠶食微軟核心專營這場持久戰的序幕。2012財年，包括Office在內的微軟商業部門收入達240億美元。不過，如果谷歌沒有提供更便宜的選擇、而且被數以百萬的公司使用的話，這個數額無疑還會更高。

????但是，Facebook也在谷歌的劇本中搶戲。這家社交網站巨頭周二發布了一項搜索服務，目的并不是要將谷歌迅速拉下網頁搜索的王座。實際上，這只是一場持久戰的開始，目的在于在網絡中最有力和最盈利的業務上侵蝕谷歌的壟斷。如果成功，Facebook所謂的“圖譜搜索（Graph Search）”就能為用戶提供谷歌之外的選擇，它對許多搜索詞條也許更加實用。在恰當的時機，它還可能變成Facebook的一項大型業務。

????Facebook的聯合創始人兼CEO馬克?扎克伯格在加州門洛帕克的公司總部召開的一場座無虛席的新聞發布會上稱：“圖譜搜索并不是網頁搜索。”

????的確，Facebook只搜索在自家網頁上發生的事情。目前為止，它只專注于四類搜索：人、照片、愛好和地點。不過Facebook這項新服務能夠查詢的內容具有創新性，也很有用。

????用戶可以“尋找喜愛足球的人”或“尋找在你家鄉喜愛足球的人”，還可以找到他們曾喜歡過的所有圖片或他們好友在巴黎拍的所有照片。他們可以在舊金山找到當地好友喜歡的餐館，或是那些印度好友喜歡的餐館——假如他們想要嘗點辛辣食物的話。而這些，谷歌是辦不到的。

????這項服務前途無量——順帶提一句，它的締造者是兩位前谷歌工程師帶領的50人團隊。首先，它可以擴大Facebook的功能，把它從一項互動工具擴展為一項能夠幫用戶發現新信息的工具。而谷歌不僅希望幫助人們尋找其他網頁信息，還希望幫助人們尋找餐館、水管工和高清電視信息，對此它理應感到憂慮。（谷歌拒絕就此發表評論。）

????然而，圖譜搜索仍然處在測試階段，而且只面向Facebook網站10億用戶中的很小一部分開放。這種謹慎情有可原。公司的測試版本引人注目，但是測試用戶同時也是Facebook的員工。這些Facebook的“超級用戶”可能記錄了他們去的每個地方，“贊”了他們喜歡的每一本書、每一首歌、每個品牌。

????When Google unveiled free word processing and spreadsheet apps back in 2007, the company wasn't trying to immediately topple Microsoft's Office suite. After all, Google's apps were―and still are―inferior to powerful programs like Word and Excel. But their launch was the beginning of a long-term campaign to nibble away at one of Microsoft's core franchises. In fiscal 2012 Microsoft's business division, which includes Office, brought in $24 billion. But there is little doubt that it would be even larger had Google not offered a cheaper alternative now used by millions of businesses.

????Facebook (FB) is taking a page from Google's (GOOG) playbook. The social networking giant on Tuesday unveiled a search service. It is not aimed at toppling Google from its perch as the king of Web search any time soon. Instead, it is the opening round in a long-term campaign to erode Google's monopoly over the most powerful and profitable business on the Internet. If successful, Facebook's so-called "graph search" will offer users an alternative to Google that may work better for many types of queries. In due time, it could turn into a tidy business for Facebook.

????"Graph search is not Web search," Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's co-founder and chief executive, said during a packed press conference at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif.

????Indeed, Facebook only searches for things that have happened on its sprawling site. For now, it concentrates on four types of searches: people, photos, interests and places. But the types of queries possible with Facebook's new service are innovative and useful.

????Users can "find friends who like soccer" or "find friends who like soccer in your hometown." Users can find all the photos they've liked or all the photos their friends have taken in Paris. They can find restaurants in San Francisco liked by friends who are locals, or by friends who are Indian―say if they're in the mood for spicy food. Users can't do that on Google.

????The promise of this kind of service—which, by the way, was built by a team of 50 engineers led by two ex-Googlers—is enormous. For starters, it could broaden the utility of Facebook, turning it from a tool of interaction into one that helps users discover new things. And Google, which is trying to be the place where people find not only other Web pages, but also restaurants or plumbers or HD televisions, should be worried. (Google declined to comment.)

????Yet Facebook's caution―graph search is still in beta or test mode, and is only being rolled out to a very small fraction of the site's more than 1 billion users―is warranted. The company's demo was dazzling, but the queries were for users who were also Facebook employees. These are Facebook "super-users" who likely check in every place they go, and click the Like button on every book, song or brand they, well, like.