I just logged into Facebook and noticed that there's a public search on the front page. Upon login, you get something like this:
Now people can search for this listing from Facebook's Welcome page. In a few weeks, it may also be found through search engines like Google.
Since your search privacy settings are set to "Everyone," you now have a public search listing. This means that friends who aren't yet on Facebook will be able to search for you by name from our Welcome page. Public Search Listings may only include names and profile pictures.
In a few weeks, these public search listings can be found by search engines like Google. No privacy rules are changing; anyone who discovers your public search listing must register and log in to contact you via Facebook. Learn More.
So basically, Google (and other search engines) can now index your public Facebook profile. Somewhat disturbing at first glance, but it's really not too big of a deal. If a potential employer really wants to look you up on Facebook, they could just create a dummy account and see your own search results anyway. Just reiterates the point that privacy features are probably worth investigating.
I wonder if Facebook's long-term goal is to start opening up other portions. Say, an extended public profile page. A public groups page (so the public could wander into forum discussions). Public network pages. And so on. From a business standpoint, it's pretty fantastic: Facebook must have tens (hundreds?) of millions of pages that could get indexed by search engines, which could result in plenty of additional search engine traffic (and resulting advertising revenue). Almost surprising they haven't moved in this direction in the past.
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