Facebook statuses to become ads?
Thanks to former Philadelphia Eagles tight end Luther Broughton for tipping us off on this one. While the execs at Facebook have certainly been able to monetize the social media giant, this might be the point where people start to get tweaked.
Facebook has unveiled a new advertising opportunity for companies that promote themselves on the site. They are called Sponsored Stories, and it allows companies that you mention in a status update to use that update in ads to your friends. Oh, and there is no opting out.
“All of us aren’t out there trying to market ourselves or trying to influence people to go somewhere or do something,” says Facebook product manager Kent Schoen. “But the reality is when we make a decision, we’re looking for information, and we want that information to come from people we trust.”
It’s one thing to have ads on the site, we’ve all gotten used to that. But, people might find this to be a little intrusive. And what if it has a negative effect? What if people are less inclined to include your company in status updates because they don’t want the company using it? That wouldn’t help anyone.
