Facebook has not released a "Facebook phone" to compete with iPhones are Android.
And it's new search engine, Graph Search, isn't really a threat to Google search.
But, with Graph Search, Facebook is openly seeking to disrupt one key part of both Apple and Google's businesses: app discovery.
Right now, the main way people find iOS apps is through the iTunes App Store. They find Android apps through the Google Play Store.
In a note posted to its developer blog, Facebook says Graph Search will make apps more discoverable on Facebook.
Apps are now more discoverable on Facebook with graph search. In addition to showing up in search results based on your app’s name, they can show up in search results based on criteria like “strategy games my friends play,” or, “apps my friends who live in San Francisco use.” To optimize your app for graph search, please make sure your app details are up to date and your app is properly categorized.
An industry blog called AllFacebook first spotted Facebook's blog post.
If Facebook were able to own app discover – a huge, whopping if – that would be very disruptive to Apple and Google – esspecially Google, as developers and companies put resources toward building more apps, and fewer Webpages.
