Sunday, November 11, 2007

Losing Face...The Parents Show up to the Party


So the switch has been flicked and ads are appearing on Facebook now. In Canada, Air Canada is among the first to use the platform.

I love the 23/6 parody on this that Greg Sterling posted on his blog. While the image is over the top, the first ads on the interface stick out like spam and really dilute the user experience. Placing the ads in the middle of the news feeds forces users to sort through unsolicited information.

With their self-procurement service, the advertisers and their creative will have limited quality control. I did notice however, that they were hiring Account Executives to handle their larger advertising accounts. With time, I hope they manage to balance the type of messaging that appears on the site with the users' expectations.

I would also hope that Facebook will apply some sort of capping on the amount of ads sold. Fortune 500s are notorious for being uncool online. Often it's like the nerdy parents showing up to the party - a buzz killer.

Here's some hope and a prayer that media planners will lead their clients to doing the right thing. Consumers are easier than ever to bore, annoy and ultimately lose.

Be clever, be genuine, and god's sake be brief!

As for the many unfiltered advertisers that may stumble upon this monkey paw, I hope for Facebook's sake that someone will be watching user behaviours closely for any changes in session patterns.


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