Facebook Reveals New Search Feature

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has unveiled a new search feature on the world's biggest online social network.

Called Graph Search, Mr Zuckerberg said the tool was not a web search. Instead it would search Facebook's database, allowing users to find information about people, photos, places and interests.

Until now, Facebook users were unable to search for friends who live in a certain town or like a particular movie.

With the new feature, people can search for friends who, say, live in London who also like Zero Dark Thirty.

Mr Zuckerberg said the tool was "privacy aware" as users can only search for content that has been shared with them.

The company has faced increasing scrutiny from privacy regulators as users entrust ever-increasing amounts of information about their personal lives to the network.

Leading up to the announcement, Facebook was keeping mum about the details triggering a guessing game about what it would reveal. Suggestions ranged from a smartphone to a search engine.

The online network has built a user base of more than one billion people worldwide, but has struggled since its stock offering in May.

Shares in Facebook made a market debut at $38, but sank by more than 50% in the following months.

The shares have clawed back some of those losses, and began the day down around 20% from the IPO (Initial Public Offering) level.