Facebook to make it's money as an online focus group

This week Facebook, the mammoth social network, announced it had finally found a way to monetize itself: To allow its users to be used in online advertising research. (Read the article here.) This may be a good solution for everyone. For starters, Facebook will be able to continue without charging money for its use. (Though I've always thought a subscription model was what they really needed.) Advertisers can get information from users who they already know important facts about: Age, gender, employment, location... all the things included in a registered profile. And for those who don't want to take part don't have to. There has been similar talk of how Twitter will monetize it's current success. They should look at what Facebook is doing, not to apply the same idea, but to understand they need to play to their own strength - in Facebook's case, their traffic numbers, chatty communities and walled garden site - and not just run more banner advertising.

About the Author: Eric Reid

I am the Social Media Services Manager for Off Madison Ave. I've been with the company since 2006, when I was hired to do SEO, and link building in particular. When social networking sites started cropping up, at first I started using them to create backlinks - but they weren't the best for that, given all of the "nofollow" attributes. However, I did see the potential for all of the direct referral traffic they represent. Since then I've been actively pursuing both tactics for clients: Links that can help them for search, and social postings that get them involved in the conversation. It's about the coolest job you could ever get. ;)

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