Facebook Revolutionizes Advertising!

Gaping Void

Are you a fan-sumer?

Does that term make you want to stab yourself on the inside of your elbow with an electric-pencil-sharpener-sharpened paper clip?

Well, beware of Facebook these days, dear friend. Today they’ve launched a new advertising initiative aimed at letting you do what you’ve always dreamed of: become an unpaid shill for products and brands you like. And, perhaps even more so, use Facebook to “stalk” Coca Cola or Apple or Product (RED). I know, I know, hold back the tears of joy.

Here's what is changing:

• You now have a way to connect with products, businesses, bands, celebrities and more on Facebook. (You mean aside from the Sponsored Pages and Groups that already existed? Wow! Amazing!)


• Ads should be getting more relevant and more meaningful to you. (Like this one?)
  
• You now have the option to share actions you take on other sites with your friends on Facebook. (More specifically, you have the option to opt-out of sharing actions you take on other sites on a case-by-case basis, which for some will raise privacy concerns, and for others - like me - it will be seen as kinda stupid. )
  

Nick Carr:

Facebook, which distinguished itself by being the anti-MySpace, is now determined to out-MySpace MySpace. It's a nifty system: First you get your users to entrust their personal data to you, and then you not only sell that data to advertisers but you get the users to be the vector for the ads. And what do the users get in return? An animated Sprite Sips character to interact with.

Ultimately, I fail to see how this is new. Or interesting. And I’m sure Facebook will make plenty of money with it, but don’t think advertisers will fare as well. I stand by my assertion that the future of advertising is being shown ads when you are looking for something. Ads as information, not as roadblocks. Yes, I see the value in being able to befriend brands (and I’ve talked about this before, too), but what Facebook’s doing here isn’t new. MySpace has done it forever, and even Facebook has - though they used to charge companies for the “honor” of creating a profile page.

Now, you too can make a page for your product, just like I have here for Frivmo Design (new site on the way soon, by the way!).

Some screenshots:





More discussion here.