FriendFeed has just released a set of new advanced search options, including the ability to filter results by the number of comments and ‘Likes’ each submission has received – a feature that will make it far easier to figure out where “the conversation” is occurring for a given news story. While the new search operators may not seem particularly exciting to casual users, they open the door to some powerful queries that can cut through the noise that had previously hindered the site’s search function.

From the company’s blog post:

* Search for words only in entry titles or in comments
[intitle:superbowl] – entries that mention “Superbowl” in the title
* Search for only entries that were liked or commented on by specific friends
[like:bret football] – entries about football that Bret has liked
* Search for entries with a minimum number of likes or comments
[comments:5 friendfeed] – entries that mention FriendFeed with at least 5 comments
* Exclude terms from your search
[jobs -steve] – entries about the job market, not the CEO of Apple

For a taste of what is possible with the new search functions, check out this thread initiated by Robert Scoble, where a number of users are submitting their own inventions.

In addition to the new operators, FriendFeed’s blog post also says that search will be “faster and more reliable”.