Google Announces That They Can Now Index Facebook Comments
Surprise, surprise, Google can now crawl JavaScript and AJAX based Facebook comments straight out of a <iFRAME> on your website. This means that finally comments being made using plugins like Disqus and Facebook Comments for WordPress are being crawled and indexed! The implications for this are massive. Not just for the ability to refresh your pages with user generated content, (which, Google loves, by the way.) but also because AJAX, JavaScript and <IFRAMES> have long been considered the dark abyss for Googlebots as it was unable to index the content within. The battle between search engines and SEOs will never be the same!
What Does Google’s Ability to Crawl FB Comments Mean for SEO?
Google inches even closer to running more of a Social Search Engine where SEO techniques should favor freshness, social media, Web2.0 and user generated content. Not only is it time to get more serious about social media integration with your own site but if you haven’t already, it’s high-time to get more aggressive practicing social media optimization techniques. SMO was always considered SEOs little sister but I have a feeling she might pack an increasingly strong punch as our search engines evolve to a hyper-social web. Most of the top optimizers in the industry already agree that social media optimization is a MUST in a post panda world. To sum it up in one sentence, Like is the new link.
The implications go far beyond social search. Being able to index AJAX, JavaScript and <IFRAMES> means that APIs and rich media integration across different websites just became search engine friendly. This could usher in a new era. What will we call it? Web2.1 lol.