Facebook spin on Social Ads
p2pnet news | Advertising:- Under Facebook Facebook unveils ad targeting program, “Now that Facebook has unveiled plans to target advertisements by injecting them into its members’ conversations, the popular online hangout must persuade its users to embrace the initiative,” said Associated Press.
p2pnet said:
Allow themselves to be totally Zuckered, might be a better way of putting it.
With a $240 million Microsoft investment behind it, Facebook plans to give advertisers carte blanche to specifically target users based on what they and their friends buy and do online, and where they go.
That looks like a tall order, but if Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his friends have their way, it won’t be a problem because advertisers will be able to literally track Facebook denizens as they move around online, leaving a tasty, and highly exploitable, trail of personal data as they go.
Naturally, Facebook and the saturation advertisers will be paying expert reality adjusters a lot of spin money, trying to make you think this is good for you.
Here’s Facebook’s Leah Pearlman (right), ‘product’ manager for Facebook Ads, in a bid to make it look like this hard-core invasion of your privacy is, well, warm and cosy and reasonable —- in fact, just what you’ve always wanted.
Says Pearlman:
Here’s what is changing:
You now have a way to connect with products, businesses, bands, celebrities and more on Facebook.
[Forget the last two - it's all about the first two.]
Ads should be getting more relevant and more meaningful to you.
[Does that mean they're currently irrelevant and meaningless?]
You now have the option to share actions you take on other sites with your friends on Facebook.
[Read - We'll now be able to follow you wherever you go online and the information will be used to try and sell you a ton of stuff you don't need and don't want.]
Engaging with businesses and buying things are part of your everyday life. Advertising doesn’t have to be about interrupting what you’re doing, but getting the right information about the purchases you make when you want it. We believe we’ve created a system where ads are more relevant and actually enhance Facebook.
[What a total load of old bollocks.]
You now have a way to connect with things you are passionate about.
[You haven't been doing that for years already?]
We’ve launched Facebook Pages, which are distinct, customized profiles designed for businesses, bands, celebrities and more to represent themselves on Facebook.
[Facebook Pages will, "let users interested in their brands interact directly with companies, who will in turn be able to gather valuable information about them". The Telegraph]
We noticed people wanted to connect with their favorite music, restaurants, and brands; but there was no good place for these types of affiliations to exist. Now, there is a place for them and you can become a fan of whatever pages you choose in order to interact with your passions in new ways. You can post reviews for a local restaurant, buy tickets to a new movie, or be the first to get a heads up about new promotions.
[See above.]
Ads will be getting more relevant and more interesting to you. Instead of random messages from advertisers, we’ve launched Social Ads. Social Ads provide advertisements alongside related actions your friends have taken on the site. These actions may be things like “Leah is now a fan of The Offspring” (if I added The Offspring to my music) or “Justin wrote a review for Sushi Hut” (If Justin wrote this review on the Sushi Hut page). These actions could then be paired with an ad that either The Offspring or Sushi Hut provides.
[Ads will become increasingly more pervasive and intrusive. AND we'll be able to get all that juicy information on you, your habits, where you go, what you do when you get there, and so on.]
Behind the scenes, we’ve instituted a system that tailors ads to you and your interests, which should make ads more appealing. Advertisers never have access to who is seeing their ads, personal information about you, or even what social actions accompany their ads. In other words, all of this completely respects your privacy, while providing you with a better Facebook experience.
[How can a system purpose-designed and custom-built to exploit you and your data by various means claim to respect your privacy? Says PC World, The new Facebook system will serve up so-called Social Ads, which combines actions taken by a users' friends - like a purchase, review or a service -- with an advertiser's message. These ads will appear in a user's news feeds as sponsored content or in the ad space on the site, according to Facebook. Is that really what Facebook users will want to be doing? And what about kids? Where do they fit into all of this?]
Bottom line, this is about forcing more advertising online, and collecting priceless marketing data on surfers.
Nothing else.
There’s a little more PR-babble, then the item finishes:
Leah, “spent hours agonizing over which band reference would make her seem cool. How did she do?”
Well, how did she do?
Also See:
totally Zuckered – Juicy tail, November 5, 2007
Associated Press – Facebook unveils ad targeting program, November 7, 2007
PC World – New Facebook Ad Techniques Raise Privacy Concerns, November 10, 2007
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