THMMY.gr

December 7, 2007,  7:33 pm
Facebook Members Sell Their Own Ads

By Louise Story

Tags: Facebook, MySpace, Online advertising, YouTube

More than 1,500 Facebook users have started placing advertisements on their own profile pages — despite the social networking site’s rule against such ads.

They are posting them with the help of a Montreal-based company called Weblo, an advertising network that sells ads onto people’s blogs and social networking profile pages.

Visitors to Weblo’s site will see that they can “earn money from your popularity online.” Weblo estimates people’s advertising value based on variables like how many friends they have in their social networks, and, thus, how many people will likely see ads on their pages.

Facebook does not allow users to sell ads on their profile pages. Chris Kelly, Facebook’s chief privacy officer, told me on Nov. 6 that is because Facebook does not want people’s profile pages to become cluttered.

“We don’t want a free-for-all,” he said.

But Weblo’s chief executive, Rocky Mirza, says that people should be able to sell space on their pages on Facebook (and a variety of other sites like MySpace and YouTube) because they are the content creators on those sites. Facebook would have no content if not for its users, he said, which makes it different from media organizations, for example, that have content because they pay reporters.

Weblo started the service in October. In the last month the number of people using it on Facebook has grown from 200 to 1500.

“Obviously Facebook is providing the infrastructure, so they can place ads on the left side,” Mr. Mirza said. “But users should be getting paid for the time they spend on the Internet and the friends they draw to their pages.”

Facebook does allow people and companies that design widgets for use on the site to sell ads in the widget interface page, called the “canvas page.” But those widget companies cannot sell ads on the profile pages, either.

Weblo shares ad revenue with the people who let it place ads on their pages. It will be interesting to see how long Facebook allows them to carry on. Facebook clearly would not want to alienate even more users now, after its Beacon debacle over the last month.

Weblo gets to the heart of a question of ownership that will generate more debate as more people spend more of their time looking at content created by other ordinary people. When users post reviews of restaurants on a media site, for example, should they get to share in the ad revenue generated?

Facebook has also yet to respond to my inquiry about Weblo, but I will update you when they do.

People can also sign up to run weblo ads on their pages by using a Weblo widget on the site called Internet Worth.

Facebook can’t think all of the content on its site is its own — if they have any sense. That would be like Internet Explorer saying that the content on all Web sites belong to it..

— Posted by Billl

I’m going to have to take facebook’s side. If someone wants to make money on the site, the least they can do is share the revenue.

Beacon was a bad idea, and I do not care for it. Users had a legitimate right to be upset that their privacy was being put up for sale. But when it comes to profiting from Facebook and expect the company to be OK that you have competing ads running alongside theirs, that is ridiculous. Facebook has a legitimate right to tell users that they would like them not to compete with their advertisers. They spend millions of dollars keeping the site running. The least they can do is glance at the ads on the site and may be click one once in a while.

— Posted by coolrepublica

Facebook’s Chris Kelly is a liar and he has no respect for his content providers. If he had any respect for them he would not assume, as he apparently does, that Facebook members are so stupid that they don’t realize that clutter is the least of Mr. Kelly’s worries. He doesn’t want competition with the ads HE makes HIS money from on the site. THAT is the bottom line.

As a writer, I resent the turn that many of today’s sites have taken. It is hard enough to make a living without having the Kelly’s of the world suddenly decide that they should, can and do make a living off of free work from others yet demand that those that provide them with their income remain penniless. Or in the case of some of today’s talented writers - Unemployed!

— Posted by Janet M. Atwell

“Weblo gets to the heart of a question of ownership that will generate more debate as more people spend more of their time looking at content created by other ordinary people.”

After reading this article I have created my own ad on facebook through weblo’s ad network, they leave the placing of the ad in the user’s hands. The ad I created is on the canvas page of their application and so far I only made $.016, I guess I won’t quit my day job but for the time it took, it is worth it.

In my opinion sooner or later all user generated content sites will have to answer this question; Do the end user get anything for their work?

The response from Kelly (Facebook’s chief privacy officer) doesn’t make sense. If Chris Kelly even used Facebook he/she would know, Facebook is built to allow users to clutter their profile pages; especially with the options to add applications. Some people’s profile pages are more chaotic than shopping on Boxing Day.

Just like applications can make money from certain area of their application, the end user should be able to make money from some part of their profile. Let us decide if our pages are cluttered or not; after all it’s people like me who spend countless hours increasing the value of facebook.

— Posted by Abi Latin

finally someone is doing the right thing and allowing the end users - to at least try to make money from the content they create. i’m not a developer and i have no idea on what application i should create but i do know my profile page gets traffic. if i want to place ads from weblo or anyone else it’s my prerogative.

— Posted by Kelly