Facebook is the new Google?

Facebook hasn’t started a search engine. So please don't enter keywords in your user name text box just yet! What I am referring to, rather, is the new tracking system which Facebook released this past week. Now Facebook will be collecting Data not just from your Facebook account, but also from anywhere you visit on the Internet.
How does it do that: Facebook will track you on any website which has a ‘like’ button on it or any of Facebook code. Do you need to be logged in for being tracked? Nah, Facebook can now track you even when signed-out.

What is the level of abstraction: take a deep breath data-security freaks out there! Facebook is not selling your account identity to any of the online marketers (at least they say so). Instead, they will let marketers target a very specific, but anonymous, user base.  For example: Newly moved to Boston age group: 23½ to 40¾.

Is this something revolutionary that Facebook is doing? Absolutely not. Similar systems have been around since the dawn of this century. Facebook had to enter this market to improve its own ad placements.