Don't beat up facebook at snack time

Facebook just can't get a break. I almost feel sorry for it. It has become that little kid is class who is really annoying, not on purpose because that is just how they are, and so everyone hates them. Then they have to friends and they talk to the trees at recess time and you feel bad for them. That is facebook.

Facebook has a rule against people placing advertisement on their pages; however users continue to do it anyways. I read this in a New York Times Article. With the help of Montreal based Weblo, users are able to earn money for their popularity online. Now get this, Facebook says they don't want ads on there because it would create "clutter". I literally laughed out loud (lol, for those who read in code) at that statement. Do the owners and creators of facebook not look at their users sites anymore? People's pages are so cluttered I can't even find the wall to leave a comment. I have to scroll down for hours before I get to the bottom of their page. There is the vampire application, hotness application, drinks, top friends, pirates vs. ninjas, jetman, dead babies . . . ok maybe not that last one but they are all equally ridiculous.

So if Facebook wants a better reason to stop people from using ads, they have to come at their content creators with more than just the word "clutter". Because without Facebook’s users/content creators, Facebook would be nothing.

TMI!!!! (Too Much Information)

Facebook is advertising in a new way which I am sure you have heard because it has been in the news and my peers and I have talked about it in class. Facebook has been advertising to your friends the purchases you have made on other websites like overstock.com and fandango.com. Members have been wanting an easy opt out button for this feature, but facebook doesn’t allow members to do that. Facebook members have been outraged at this feature because it is a complete invasion of privacy. Over 50,000 members have signed a petition for them to stop this advertising feature that facebook has implemented to turn their popularity into profit.

What facebook is doing is using internet tracking to see what you are buying and interested in to than send you adds based on your searches and purchases. Pretty sleazy if you ask me, but also brilliant from a marketing perspective. Problem is, people don’t like this big brother aspect of facebook and don’t want everyone to know what they are searching online, which makes sense.

But get this, I was reading an article about how people were complaining and Mr. Zuckerberg, creator of facebook, said, “Facebook executives say the people who are complaining are a marginal minority. With time, Facebook says, users will accept Beacon, which Facebook views as an extension of the type of book and movie recommendations that members routinely volunteer on their profile pages.” Can I just say he’s a butthead (since I don’t want to use a harsher word.) People shouldn’t have to get used to something they don’t want to. I know many people were upset when the mini feed came out but at least we can change the privacy levels on that. In this article, Facebook, since it has been pressured by protesters, has decided to put up a notification every time you have something that could be shared on facebook, asking whether or not you would like to share it. This should make people happy for a while, but you know there are going to be tons of people, probably even those who protested Beacon, who allow some of their interests and purchase on facebook. People like to share too much information.

Conversation Targeting Advertisements

Advertising niche markets online just got easier thanks to Buzz Logic’s new on-demand software application, Ad Targeting.

“Now available within BuzzLogic’s on-demand software application, Ad Targeting enables advertisers to isolate influential blog and social media conversations occurring around products, brands and issues, then immediately target ad campaigns into the online conversations shaping consumer perception and buying behavior.”

This new software allows users to create conversation queries, similar to key words, to find out who are the influential leaders who are driving online conversations on various topics and communities that pertain to certain topics. Once they have this research they create text or display ads that pertain to topics that those communities identify with. This system uses online influence to double advertiser’s performance. Let’s see how well it work . . .

It doesn’t matter if you feed them after midnight . . . they will still come out!

They are everywhere. They are on the sides of the website you just looked at. They are there, smiling as you reading your e-mails. They creep out at all hours of the night and are infesting the World Wide Web. The only way to get rid of them . . . is to turn off your computer and hide under your bed with a cross and garlic. They are not hiding in your closet, they are hiding in your cable or DSL connection . . . they are Widgets.
Widgets are small online tools that function like mini-sites. They are interactive ads that can be posted on pages that don’t even require click-throughs. According to this New York Times article “Google Program Enlists Mini-Sites as Selling Tools for Advertisers” 48% of Internet users in America use widgets.
The majority of my fellow classmates use them, quite possibly without even realizing it. When you log onto Facebook and add that Top Friends or iLike application, you are using a widget. When you get on AOL instant messenger (AIM) and a music video starts playing at the top of your buddy list, you are viewing a widget.
Companies like Honda and Siera Mist have their own widgets to provide content or tools to potential customers. Recently Google has developed a new interaction measure to document the interest in the ads. Here’s a little snip of the article previously mentioned:

“Google tested its Gadget Ads program this summer with a group of 50 marketers. To encourage more advertisers to make such ads, Google is offering to be host of videos for the ads in YouTube’s servers — a cost-saving for advertising agencies. And Google provides tools for updating the ads, even if marketers do not bid for ads in Google’s network. Marketers pay Google only for the ads that run in its networks and not for any downloading or saving of those ads that consumers may choose to do.”

Widgets are extremely beneficial for ad agencies because they are easy to create and cut marketing expenses. A benefit could be, “Instead of paying news sites to run videos from a movie’s premiere, for example, studios can make it easy for consumers to post the movie videos on their own sites or social network profiles, providing free advertising.”

Widgets are a marketers dream, allowing the customer to decide how long with want them to live.