On the day before the major U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, tech companies don’t generally announce anything — it’s like promoting a product into a black hole. Web use is already falling as I write this. So what better day for Facebook to slip in ads and intermingle them with your Facebook friend feed?
Facebook reps confirm it is beginning this rollout today. I took some screenshots. The shot below is of the right most column of my Facebook page — the feeds are at top. So far no ads along the scrolling right column on the main page.
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But ads are appearing here — intermingling with my Facebook Friends updates as a part of Facebook Sponsorship, announced back in January but making this major move into feeds today. Notice the ad on my screen. To be honest, I’m fundamentally divided about how I feel about this new feature. Here’s a first look at it. Let me know what you think at Gina@aNewDomain.Net
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So what you’re seeing here is what this experience will be like for a Facebook member’s perspective. Here’s what Facebook is telling would-be advertisers of what they get out of the deal.
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Here’s what I’m divided on. As someone who checks Facebook a couple of times a day — and someone who uses it to keep track of friends and family and share photos — the ads in the feeds just seem wrong.
On the other hand, as the half owner of aNewDomain.net, which you’re reading now, I see the lure this has. Think about it. A ton of aspiring media properties make their start with Google Adsense. This one included. As a small biz owner, I see the lure here and at any rate, it’s a smart move for Facebook’s foray into business. Hmm.
If you get a sec over the long holiday weekend, please comment below and let me know what you think about ad sponsored content intermingled with your Facebook friends’ feeds and elsewhere. I feel mixed about it. Hmm.
All screenshots in this piece: Courtesy Gina Smith
This is exactly why we now, more than ever, need a DISLIKE button. I am not a fan of ads AT ALL. But I guess you have to pay the bills. I wonder what kind of ad blocker apps this might give way to.
Man — that is true. A dislike button. Or at least a thumbs down on this button. This is true throughout the web. Sometimes I’ll see a great piece of journalism about something horrific — an important piece readers should see — but hitting LIKE doesn’t seem right. Or even plus one-ing it. It looks like a vote of support for the content and not for the coverage.
So please hit Like on this page, Mat, and let’s agree that neither of us like ads in our feeds that much. But they are not going away. They are going to get worse.
[…] Facebook announced the day before Thanksgiving that it would be mixing ad-sponsored “stories&#… within members’ Facebook streams. Watch BBC reporter Emily Maitlis with Elliot Schrage, VP Public Policy for Facebook. She calls him out on this, below, and the exec has no good answers — and a lot of stumbles. This ran in the UK this weekend. […]