Facebook Signals New Advertising Strategy [WSJ]

Coverage in the WSJ this week speculating about Facebook's continued efforts to monetize their data treasure trove.  We've talked in class about the inefficiency of Facebook's advertising so far, and after this summer's botched IPO the company is under intense pressure to assert itself as a Google-size player in the world of digital advertising.  So far they have limited their actions to some beta testing in which they sell advertisers data on impressions among different segments--in many ways, the article mentions, emulating what Google and Yahoo have been doing for years.  Privacy advocates make the claim that Facebook is a different case than Google and Yahoo that needs to be approached differently, because of the immense amount of personal data that users store on the site.  Other gestures Facebook has made suggesting new routes to ad revenue growth include advertising on affiliated web services, such as Zynga's games platform, and hiring an outside data consultancy to evaluate the effectiveness of its ad results.  Facebook's billion-strong membership ensures that it has the scope to rival Google as a major player in online advertisement.  At the end of the day, the question is whether the company's commitment to maintaining members' privacy--and their accompanying expectations--will hinder their ability to become the world's largest ad network.