Telegraph reports: [edited]
Facebook is planning to exploit the vast amount of personal information it holds on its 150m members by creating one of the world's largest market research databases.
In an attempt to finally monetise the social networking site, once valued at $15bn (£10.4bn), it will soon allow multinational companies to selectively target its members in order to research the appeal of new products.
Companies will be able to pose questions to specially selected members based on such intimate details as whether they are single or married and even whether they are gay or straight.
The power of Facebook, and its members, in driving corporate decisions was illustrated last year, when a campaign on the site led to Cadbury reversing its decision to withdraw the popular Wispa chocolate bar. Cadbury has sold 70m Wispas since it reintroduced the bar in October after the Facebook campaign attracted 40,000 signatories.
Facebook has already sold the new polling system, called engagement ads, to CareerBuilder, a global graduate recruitment company, and AT&T, the US telecoms giant, is trialling the system. A Facebook spokesman said the company's advertising department is marketing the new service to thousands of companies worldwide and it hopes the polls will go live this spring.
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3 comments:
Is there anyone on facebook who wasn't expecting this to happen?
i agree that anyone intelligent will have worked out that this was always the plan, and the three people who bothered to read the 'agreement terms' before clicking 'accept' will have been left with no doubt at all :-)
I didn't read them all, but enough to know they own just about ALL your information... Including your photos.
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