SEO / SEM Blog by Search Circus

I read a great article in Business Week Magazine, about Facebook and its developing advertising strategies, and it got my attention. Particularly because I have a Facebook account, but also because I never really gave much thought about the effectiveness, or lack thereof, of the advertisements.

By now, it’s pretty rare to find someone who doesn’t have a Facebook page. Have you noticed the ads on the border of the page? They are meant to blend in, but we’ve noticed.

The social ads show which one of our friends has either “liked” the service, or product, or commented on the ad itself.

Webtrends says that only around half of 1 percent of people who see these ads actually click on them. But, Bloomberg reported that Facebook pulled in an estimated $2 billion in sales in 2010 and is on track to double that this year! The power of social advertising.

Facebook claims that the click numbers aren’t important; people remember ads better and are more likely to make purchases when their friends endorse the products and services. To some extent, I believe this. If I see a friend “like” or comment on a page, or ad, there’s a better chance that I will wander over because I trust my friend, not because the ad was selling me.

What do advertisers think? According to comScore,
the social network now serves up nearly one-third of the display advertising that Internet users see in the U.S., and delivers twice as many ad impressions as its closest rival, Yahoo!

Advertisers can take even more advantage of the social ads. When we “check into” a restaurant using the Facebook app on our cellphone, or comment on the page of an advertiser, it shows up in our news feed and gets lost in the stream of updates.

Ever since Facebook came on the social media and Internet scene, it’s been in direct competition with Google. They’ve been battling each other for control of the Web. It appears that the competition is attaining a whole new level. With the continued advancement of social advertising, there’s a good chance the competition will go even farther.