UPDATE 2Facebook invites advertisers into user profiles
January 24th, 2008, 4:08 am Hobbies And Interests
By Michele Gershberg
NEW YORK, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Social network Facebook
unveiled a new advertising system on Tuesday that will let
companies introduce ads into the Web profiles of its 50 million
users and launch dedicated pages on the site for their brands.
The privately held company has already signed on several
dozen partners for the system, including phone company Verizon
Communications Inc (VZ.N: Quote, Profile, Research), movie rental chain Blockbuster Inc
(BBI.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and online auction market eBay Inc (EBAY.O: Quote, Profile, Research).
“When people go to your page and say they are a fan of your
brand, it goes into their mini-feed,” Facebook Chief Executive
Mark Zuckerberg told a gathering of ad and media executives in
New York. “What we’re building here is a massive network of
real world connections through which people can share
information.”
Facebook’s ad partnerships could pose a new challenge to
News Corp’s (NWSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research) MySpace, the world’s largest online social
network, and Web search leader Google Inc (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research). Both seek
to offer advertisers more direct and efficient ways of reaching
audiences on the Web.
Last month, Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) took a minority
investment in Facebook that valued the privately held company
at $15 billion, largely based on the expectation it would soon
be able to mine its user profiles for valuable ad data.
Facebook users have their own profile pages, where they
post updates on their daily activities, photos, hobbies, and
other information. These updates are sent to the pages of their
friends and social groups via a “news feed.”
The news feed item is seen by dozens to hundreds of a
user’s friends on Facebook, creating a loose system of
recommendations that is transmitted instantaneously.
Related posts
