Facebook, now valued at $15 billion, poised to launch new ad network

TOPH TUCKER ‘08

On October 24, after months of speculation, the AP reported that Microsoft had landed a deal to buy 1.6% percent of social networking giant Facebook for $240 million. The deal values Facebook at $15 billion, and it gives Microsoft worldwide advertising rights.

Google, who had also been in the running for the deal, responded on the 30th with a new initiative called OpenSocial. OpenSocial aims to let developers easily build applications for a wide range of social networking sites, including MySpace, Friendster, Oracle, Orkut, and more.

While that deal was heralded as a great coup for Google, Facebook now seems ready to fight back themselves. “SocialAds” aims to finally provide Facebook with a solid source of revenue by using user profiles to target ads to customers. The Facebook Flyers program already does this to some extent within Facebook, but the new program would include ads on other web sites as well.

Another Facebook initiative would integrate third-party site data into your News Feed. A partner, such as Amazon.com, might give you the option to add “[User] bought [item] at Amazon.com” to your feed.

For more information, see the editorial “Why Facebook will rule the world—and why it won’t.”

------------
Image from: www.digital-lifestyles.info