Facebook Plans to Make Money by Selling Your Data

Hey let the corporations track your every move and buy a new product along the way. That's fair isn't it? This is only the beginning of the unauthorized digging into your privacy. If people do not aggressively complain and stop this marketing strategy the corporations will look for increasingly intrusive ways to get more personal data.


http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2009/02/02/02readwriteweb-facebook_sells_your_data.html
LIDIJA DAVIS

The Telegraph is reporting that social networking giant Facebook has new plans for generating revenue; offering its 150 million user database as a market research tool to corporations.
Skip to next paragraph
More News From ReadWriteWeb

* Google: "We're Not Doing a Good Job with Structured Data"
* 8 Tools to Track Your Footprints on the Web
* ReadWriteWeb Guide to Super Bowl XLIII: Geeking Out on the Big Game
* Weekly Wrapup: Recommender Systems, Social Media Trends, State of Blog Search, And More...
* How to Friend Mom, Dad, and the Boss on Facebook...Safely

Starting this spring, companies will be able to selectively target Facebook's members in order to research the appeal of new products through a polling system called Engagement Ads as demonstrated at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

The Evolution of Engagement Ads

Engagement Ads are not new to Facebook. Last year, The Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook had begun "quietly testing" the product in August and was hoping to roll it out by the end of November.

Engagement Ads, said the WSJ, would appear on the home page of Facebook when you first log on and prompt you to interact with an ad. If you did interact with the ad, Facebook would then attempt to share your action with your friends thus "getting the ad in front of more eyeballs."

At the time, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said that ads systems are "built over time through continual tweaking." She added that Facebook's existing ad offerings were doing well but "undersell Facebook's broader opportunity."

If the Telegraph report is correct, Engagement Ads have had a massive tweak; companies will be able to pose questions to and receive feedback from selected members in real time based on user information that Facebook provides.

Randi Zuckerberg, Facebook's Global Markets Director, told the Telegraph that companies are excited about this new polling system. "It takes a very long time to do a focus group, and businesses often don't have the luxury of time. I think they liked the instant responses," she said.

Facebook's Advertising Attempts

Facebook's foray into advertising over time has been weak at best. Forrester's Jeremiah Owyang has called Facebook's marketing toolset 'confusing', adding that brands will only succeed with engagement advertising if they lean on user behaviors like communication, self-expression, and social exploration.

When Facebook launched it's much hyped advertising strategy in 2007, we had hoped it would not be met with backlash. Unfortunately this wasn't to be the case and the Beacon saga came to an end the following month with Mark Zuckerberg apologizing for the way Facebook had dealt with the situation.

It appears Facebook has run the gamut when it comes to advertising efforts. What began with fliers, display banner ads and even the very similar Facebook Polls have not yet inspired marketers to run in droves to the popular social networking site.

But could this be the year things turn around for them? Maybe. Change certainly is in the air at Facebook. Zuckerberg had noticeably dressed up for Davos, telling blogger Robert Scoble it was to denote that this was Facebook's 'intense' year. The Facebook founder bio page has had a recent addition. And as for Engagement Ads? Well, we'll just have to wait and see. What do you think?

Update: Facebook has contacted us and said that the technology demonstrated at the conference was not a new service and that there have been no changes to the company's existing polls and Engagement Ads services. We'll be making a new post later today to discuss why the prospect of this new service has raised so much interest and concern.

Copyright 2009 ReadWriteWeb. All Rights Reserved.

Views: 47

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

Comment by truth on February 3, 2009 at 4:16am
AOL, google, the list goes on. All NWO tools. So far ning seems cool. I did a little research and nothing stuck out as corrupt.

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Doc Vega posted a blog post

Two Combat Aircraft Captured and Studied in WWII Pacific Theater

 During the heated contest of the WWII Pacific Ocean War both the US Pacific fleet and the Axis…See More
8 hours ago
Doc Vega posted a blog post
yesterday
Burbia posted a photo
Tuesday
Millie P. Carlos is now a member of 12160 Social Network
Tuesday
Sandy posted videos
Monday
Burbia commented on Ragnarok's video
Thumbnail

Charles Manson Talks About The Global Elite

"Another group of people that get disregarded are the the Process Church.  Deaths and strange…"
Sunday
Sandy posted a video

Captain fantastic scene (Bill of rights)

Scene from the movie "Captain fantastic"Uploader does not claim ownership of any of the footage used in this video. All credit goes to the respective owners ...
Saturday
tjdavis posted photos
Aug 8
tjdavis posted a video

The UK Has Just Reached It's Boiling Point - Ricky Gervais

Ricky Gervais - Frustration still there a year on.Nicholaswatt reports what he has been told by a parliamentary veteran, who warns: "'My constituents feel th...
Aug 8
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Terrorized on a 3 Day Weekend

 We had a holiday weekend coming up. My ex, whom I was sharing custody with was off for her…See More
Aug 8
Sandy posted videos
Aug 7
Sandy replied to Sandy's discussion Sick sci-fi sex fantasy written by Epstein's first benefactor people say inspired his twisted island... before author's SON ended up arresting him
"Interesting. I always thought he was still alive. Probably given some plastic surgery and a witness…"
Aug 7
WIllow is now a member of 12160 Social Network
Aug 7
Burbia commented on Less Prone's video
Thumbnail

Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans - Outrage AI Parody Song

"Props to Schottenstein on his foray out of the woods that was DEI and wokeness. "
Aug 7
Burbia replied to Sandy's discussion Sick sci-fi sex fantasy written by Epstein's first benefactor people say inspired his twisted island... before author's SON ended up arresting him
"One of the theories floating around was Hilary Clinton's brother Hugh, was the one…"
Aug 7
Sandy posted a discussion
Aug 7
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Aug 6
Less Prone favorited Sandy's video
Aug 6
Less Prone favorited tjdavis's video
Aug 6
Less Prone posted a video

Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans - Outrage AI Parody Song

AI Parody Music Video poking fun at the online hysteria surrounding Sydney Sweeney's American Eagle jeans campaign.✅ Blue jeans✅ Blonde panic✅ DEI gone wild✅...
Aug 6

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted