Latest Facebook Ad Idea Sparks Privacy Concerns
NEW YORK - Facebook users who check in to a store or click the "like" button for a brand may soon find those actions retransmitted on their friends' pages as a "Sponsored Story" paid for by advertisers.
Currently there is no way for users to decline this feature.
Facebook says this lets advertisers promote word-of-mouth recommendations that people already made on the site. They play up things people do on the site that might get lost in the mass of links, photos, status updates and other content users share on the world's largest social network.
The new, promoted posts would keep the same privacy setting that the original posting had. So if you limit your check-ins to a specific group of friends, only these same friends would see the "Sponsored Story" version later.
The promoted content will appear on the right side of users' home pages, not in their main news feed. That's where regular ads, friend requests and other content are located.
Privacy Concern
Involving users in advertisements without their consent has been a thorny issue for Facebook. Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said in this case the company is making money off a person's name or likeness without their consent. He calls it "subtle and misleading" and says users should object.
Twitter already offers advertisers something similar, called "promoted tweets." These are Twitter posts paid for by advertisers to show up in search results and on top of popular topic lists on the site. But while Twitter's ads are written by the companies that pay for them, Facebook's sponsored stories are created by users.
Both represent an effort to make advertisements more akin to what people are already experiencing on the site instead of putting up virtual billboards that users might ignore or find tacky.
© 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Currently there is no way for users to decline this feature.
Facebook says this lets advertisers promote word-of-mouth recommendations that people already made on the site. They play up things people do on the site that might get lost in the mass of links, photos, status updates and other content users share on the world's largest social network.
The new, promoted posts would keep the same privacy setting that the original posting had. So if you limit your check-ins to a specific group of friends, only these same friends would see the "Sponsored Story" version later.
The promoted content will appear on the right side of users' home pages, not in their main news feed. That's where regular ads, friend requests and other content are located.
Privacy Concern
Involving users in advertisements without their consent has been a thorny issue for Facebook. Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said in this case the company is making money off a person's name or likeness without their consent. He calls it "subtle and misleading" and says users should object.
Twitter already offers advertisers something similar, called "promoted tweets." These are Twitter posts paid for by advertisers to show up in search results and on top of popular topic lists on the site. But while Twitter's ads are written by the companies that pay for them, Facebook's sponsored stories are created by users.
Both represent an effort to make advertisements more akin to what people are already experiencing on the site instead of putting up virtual billboards that users might ignore or find tacky.
Popular in SciTech
- Watch: NASA captures Okla. tornado from space Play Video
- Microsoft announces Xbox One
- Storms that spawned deadly Oklahoma tornadoes seen from space (video)
- Power of Okla. tornado surpassed Hiroshima bomb
- Microsoft announces Xbox One 16 Photos
- The 7 weirdest things made by 3D printing
- First look at the Xbox One Play Video
- Microsoft announces Xbox One Play Video
3 Comments Add a Comment
- linkicon reporticon emailicon
- If I go to a website and copy text from the website I am stealing the information if I do not first getting permission to use the text for another purpose from the author. When I type a post in Facebook it is only meant for my friends and no one else. I have never given Facebook any authorization to use my text, likes, or anything else for any purpose especially when they are making a profit from my text, likes, etc. Now seeing they are going to "steal" this information to benefit companies and themselves by getting paid for this information, exactly how much money am I going to get for my text and likes? Pay me enough and I will be REALLY NICE about the company. Do not pay me and I won't say anything nice about any company. Since we are the "customers" of facebook I mean really without us they would not have a business. I do not think they should be able to utilize our information without permission and if they do it without my permission then I think they need to give some compensation to the information they use. I should benefit for my original pieces of work (text posts). Other than that I am the author of my text in my posts and Facebook never got my permission to utilize my text therefore they should not be allowed to use this information based on grounds of stealing or plagiarism.
- reply
- linkicon reporticon emailicon
- MySpace...Facebook...Twitter...Social networking is here to stay, and along with it come the advertisers...
- reply
- linkicon reporticon emailicon
- I wonder how much money is exchanged for every click one makes on that website ..
- reply
