Gawker
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facebook
Beacon returns, more annoying than ever
Fantasy football enthusiast Jesse Stay has caught a new instance of Facebook's much-maligned Beacon advertising system, with a Facebook popup appearing on the CBS Sports site asking if it can advertise in Stay's news feed. Don Reisinger at TechCrunch confirmed that Beacon is alive, recreating the situation and finding the offending source code. While users upset at the site's redesign are busy finding workarounds, this development might slip under the radar. In which case: Well played, Facebook. [Stay 'N Alive] -
your privacy is an illusion
Virus mimics Facebook's hated Beacon ads
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg should be relieved to learn that someone is at last "leveraging the social graph," as he might put it, for financial gain. Problem is, it's not Facebook. It's hackers pulling a phishing scam. A tipster tells us his friends at Facebook are busy fighting a virus that tricks a user into opening "a YouTube phishing site," delivered in the form of a Facebook message from one of the user's Facebook friends. More » -
online advertising
Facebook's new money plan: same as the old one
Tim Kendall is Facebook's director of monetization. (We were sad to learn his job has nothing to do with the French impressionists.) He says Facebook can make its notoriously low-performing Social Ads work — basically by bring back Beacon. The key, Kendall told AllFacebook, is keeping track of Facebook users' commercial activities on and off the site and then, when a user buys a product, offering the product's marketers a chance to pay Facebook to tell that user's friends in their Facebook News Feeds. "Marketers will be able to pay for increased or enhanced distribution above and beyond what News Feed already provides," explains AllFacebook's Nick O'Neill. More »
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Comment by Shadowlayer: Giving users a piece of the action is so-2006, it doesnt works... more » | Other threads
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friendfeed
Why Silicon Valley just won't shut up about FriendFeed
"Cathy Brooks is a typically unapologetic Silicon Valley Web addict," writes Brad Stone in the New York Times. "Last week alone, she produced more than 40 pithy updates on the text messaging service Twitter, uploaded two dozen videos to various video sharing sites, posted seven photographs on the Yahoo image service Flickr and one item to the online community calendar Upcoming." Usually, when one identifies a friend as an addict, an intervention is in order. But Stone, who seems to have spent so much time in San Francisco's tech circles that he's gone native, suggests more technology instead: Specifically, FriendFeed, which gathers all of this online activity in one place, making it marginally easier for Brooks's benighted friends to keep up with her online logorrhea. More » -
online advertising
Facebook dumping $100,000/mo. Sponsored Groups for Pages
It's hard to count the ways Mark Zuckerberg botched the launch of Facebook's "Social Ads" last fall. From the portentous talk of a once-every-100-years "change" in media, to the privacy brouhaha over Facebook's Beacon technology, Facebook's inexperienced CEO did just about everything wrong. At last, he's starting to get things right. Facebook has begun encouraging advertisers with sponsored groups to shift to Facebook Pages instead. Apple, with the largest sponsored group, has moved 400,000 members of its Apple Students group to be "fans" of the Apple Facebook page instead. It's a big, risky, and potentially costly change. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Avery: This is the death of Facebook right here. They no longer have a business model. more » | Other threads
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clips
Charlie Rose on Charlie Rose on the Internet, by Samuel Beckett
Over the years, Charlie Rose has hosted Silicon Valley titans like Wired editor Chris Anderson, Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, and Google cofounder Sergey Brin on his late-night public television interview show. When Facebook launched its Beacon advertising program in New York, Rose played master of ceremonies. But not until now, with the discovery of this clip titled "'Charlie Rose' by Samuel Beckett," has Rose effectively explicated the industry. More » -
online advertising
Facebook can't get basic ad targeting right
Facebook has great features for users, but is having a hard time selling ads. The Beacon program attempts to get agreements from companies to pay Facebook in return for broadcasting purchasing information to friends as an indirect endorsement of the brand. Users revolted, and now Blockbuster, not Facebook, is getting sued for giving up a customer's data — not exactly an incentive for advertisers to sign up with the company's next "revolutionary" scheme. Meanwhile, Facebook can't even get the most basic demographic targeting right. Boinkology points to the case of Peter Knox who, while listed as "straight" in the Facebook database, can't seem to get away from come ons to talk to hot, gay men. Either Facebook's ad-placement algorithms are so good they can even pick up on latent homosexuality, or the company can't even run a basic query against user-selected preference in order to target ads.
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By Jackson WestComment by suckaduck: I'm Peter Knox, by the way, and I can't figure this out. My other friends, straight males on Facebook, don't... more » | Other threads
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facebook
Beacon a business failure, too
Is it advertising if no one pays for it? In its rush to criticize Facebook's Beacon in last night's segment on the hot social network, 60 Minutes forgot to ask that question. In dramatic tones, correspondent Lesley Stahl ominously noted how "advertisers pulled out" after controversy erupted over the feature, which reports on users' online activities, including purchases. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg defended it to Stahl as the future of advertising, a form of sponsorship less crass than banner ads. If it's the future of advertising, though, it's not a very lucrative one. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by Dror Poleg: @SAMPLE032: Well, I ain't heard nothing, just judging by what I see. Anyways, when are we going to be worth... more » | Other threads
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great moments in journalism
Mark Zuckerberg gets off scot free in "60 Minutes" interview
No one expects the fannish inquisition. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg can breathe easy; he has nothing to fear from 60 Minutes after all. From the looks of the teaser CBS News is running for his upcoming interview, the hardest question Zuckerberg got asked was if he got in trouble at Harvard for launching Facemash, a predecessor of Facebook built from photos he hacked out of school servers. The venerable news organization even got his net worth wrong — he owns 27 percent of Facebook, making him worth $4 billion on paper, not $3 billion. So much for factchecking. Here are the questions we wish CBS's Lesley Stahl had asked — but doubt she bothered: More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by ABloggingHorse: Again, his percieved worth is what is on paper. If Facebook fails, his net worth won't be a whole lot. more » | Other threads
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your privacy is an illusion
Find Facebook ads creepy? I do!
Yes, Facebook, I am getting married. I presume you know this because my fiancée and I are listed as engaged to each other in our profiles. It's even possible you know the wedding is soon because she registered us on TheKnot.com, a Beacon partner. And even though she opted not to have you spam our friends about it, it's conceivable that you're still keeping track of her activity on the site, despite promising to discard the data. That's fine. Eventually we were going to tell you about the wedding anyway. But, Facebook, you might want to know: I'm not an American Express cardholder. And also: I'm not going to buy that dress. Oh, and one more thing? More »
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Comment by l.ementary: I just found this. My question for Facebook: Why am I being aggressively targeted with ads offering to let me... more » | Other threads
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wrapup
Top 5 FAILs of 2007
They were going to CHANGE EVERYTHING. Whoops. presenting five biggest technology disappointments of the past year. No, not Vista and the Kindle — you didn't expect anything there. More » -
your privacy is an illusion
FTC seeks to bore online advertisers with proposals
Following its approval of the Google-DoubleClick merger, the FTC put out a series of proposals regarding privacy and online advertising. Dear God they're boring. But relevant nonetheless. Here are the bullet points. More » -
porn
Facebook gets ad booty, booty ads
Advertisers have forgiven Facebook for Beacongate, Mediaweek reports. Despite the ill-thought-out introduction of Facebook's privacy-invading ads, they plan to keep their money flowing. Most even appreciate how with Beacon, Facebook tried something new and uproven. But more and more, readers are finding very proven methods of advertising all over Facebook. Sex sells, and despite rules against porn ads, Facebook's ad-review staff can't seem to keep up with the softcore stuff flooding the site. Frankly, we'redisgustedamused. Here's the latest example. With apologies to Fark, we must note it's NSFW. More »
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Comment by MrMedia: come on guys, this is a $15,000,000,000 business. Of course you probably won't understand its innerworkings well at all.... more » | Other threads
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marcel laverdet
Facebook employee gleefully broadcasts purchases
Why has Facebook gotten into so much trouble over Beacon, its online-advertising program which alerts friends to your online purchases and other Web activity? Until CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized, its response was largely tone-deaf. And that, we suspect, is because its youthful, well-paid employees don't see what the big deal is about telling everyone what you've bought. More » -
silicon valley users guide
How to turn off Facebook's Grinch
You've heard the horror stories about how Facebook's Beacon ads can ruin your Christmas. Even though Overstock.com — the online retailer whose use of Beacon caused most of the uproar — has turned Beacon off, there's no telling who Zuckerberg might sucker into installing the ads next. Take action now. Use Facebook's new privacy options to turn it off. Here's the simple four-click process. More »
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Comment by macbeach: Zuck's windy humblegram gave a direct link to the page: [www.facebook.com] Which is a rather odd name for it. I trust the company... more » | Other threads
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facebook
Mark Zuckerberg issues the inevitable apology
Mark Zuckerberg has apologized for the fiasco over Beacon, Facebook's controversial advertising system which reports users' activities across the Web to their friends. It turns out that, all these years later, he still values the trust of Facebook users. Of course, he has to remind us that trust is Facebook's highest regard every time he oversteps that trust. Maybe someone should remind the youthful CEO of his own views before he introduces a new feature which breaks that trust. More »
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By Tim FaulknerComment by Oh No I Di'n't.: How the hell CAN'T he see these things coming? I mean, he's the same age as his target demographic. Really,... more » | Other threads
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facebook
Beacon protests a hundred times smaller than News Feed uproar
Maybe Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has so far declined to talk to Robert Scoble — real, fake, or otherwise — and other bloggers for a simple reason. He knows the vast majority of Facebook users, still mostly high school and college kids, don't know and don't care about Facebook Beacon. That's what the above poll indicates. It's not the only evidence. More »
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Comment by Joel York: I find it interesting that people would cite statistics about users knowledge of Beacon as an accurate measure of the... more » | Other threads
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facebook
Zuckerberg: Value of users' trust is immeasurable
Mark Zuckerberg in his own words:It's hard to quantify that because this isn't a short-term thing. If an event [like] this happens and our users get spammed then they trust the site less and they use it less, then that could affect us tremendously down the line, even if it doesn't affect it right at this point.
No, that's not the Facebook founder's mea culpa on the much-derided Beacon advertising program. It's Zuckerberg's deposition account of rival network ConnectU's attempts to harvest emails from Facebook profiles. But Zuckerberg's claim that the impact of losing user trust is "immeasurable" is just as apropos today as it was three years ago.
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By Tim FaulknerComment by ScalaWag: @sample032: LOL. That was his biggest mistake. He should have just done as told and sell to Friendster for $1M... more » | Other threads
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online advertising
Facebook not so sure users have even heard of Beacon
Add this to the garbage in my Facebook news feed: I logged in this morning to find a "sponsored poll" about the Beacon advertising program. The poll didn't say who sponsored it, but I suspect it was Facebook itself. Freaked out by the reaction to Beacon ads, which report purchases and other actions taken on other websites to your Facebook friends, Facebook is trying to find its way through the fiasco. (Ryann from Facebook customer support writes to say, "Polls can be purchased by third parties, and we cannot give away any information on who purchased the poll. I apologize for any inconvenience that may cause.") More »
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Comment by Trackback: There's no question that Facebook's Beacon initiative has taken a beating over the past few weeks. The feature automatically... more » | Other threads
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your privacy is an illusion
Does Facebook Beacon spy on you without asking?
Facebook tracks user activity on sites affiliated with its Beacon advertising program, even when those users have opted-out of the program and logged off Facebook. So say security researchers at Computer Associates, who offers the following screenshots for proof. More »
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Comment by jeffabc: Seems like a pretty simple fix, just use firefox with no-script. I forbid running of scripts from facebook. No beacon,... more » | Other threads
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online advertising
Advertisers threatened Facebook — and one acted
MoveOn.org, the activist group, takes credit for Facebook revising its privacy policy. The company itself says it was just listening to user feedback. But you know better: Money talks. The New York Times reports that prior to Facebook's announcement last night, at least one advertiser, Overstock.com, told Zuckerberg & Co. it would discontinue its participation in Facebook's Beacon ads until it became an opt-in-only program, where users have to actively consent to have their purchases broadcasted to friends on the social network. It's not clear if Facebook's latest changes have appeased the online retailer.
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Comment by Davion: Why did they need to threaten Facebook? Couldn't they have just made it opt-in from their side and... more » | Other threads
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facebook
MoveOn.org declares Mission Accomplished
Last night, Facebook revised its policies on Beacon, the online-ad format some critics say violate users' privacy rights. MoveOn.org spokesman Adam Green called it "a huge step in the right direction," one that says "a lot about the ability of everyday Internet users to band together to make a difference." Never mind that war still rages in Iraq and George W. Bush is still in office. Hey, MoveOn, you win some, you lose some. (Photo by AP/J. Scott Applewhite) -
online advertising
Facebook caves to Beacon critics
For privacy advocates, it's a holiday miracle. Mark Zuckerberg's heart just grew three sizes. Facebook has just released a statement outlining several changes to Beacon, its online-advertising system which reports actions Facebook users take on other websites to their friends. The key takeaway? You can't opt out of Beacon completely, as some critics have asked, but reports on your activity — say, the fact that you just bought your girlfriend a ring on Overstock.com — won't be published without your "proactive consent," says Facebook. After the jump, the full statement. More »
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By Owen ThomasComment by treyp: @tsawicki: wow. if you can see who is poking who, i bet moveon would love to speak to you. and... more » | Other threads
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facebook
95 percent of readers say Mark Zuckerberg stole Christmas
In a landslide the likes of which we haven't seen since Brew PR's Brooke Hammerling destroyed Ogilvy's Justin O'Neill in a "snacky or flacky" head-to-head, 94.8 percent of readers believe that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg stole Christmas. All this because his new ad product might tell your friends which presents you're getting them. And Zuck had stiff competition, too. Scrooge essentially kills poor Tiny Tim and the Grinch, well, he made a right mess out of Who-ville, didn't he? More » -
your privacy is an illusion
MoveOn's Facebook screenshot leads to promised change
For now, Facebook only allows users to opt out of its Beacon ads, which target your friends based on what you do on other websites, on a site-by-site basis. But MoveOn.org, the activist group protesting Beacon over privacy concerns, says it doesn't have to be this way. In fact, the organization told News.com, screenshots leaked prior to Beacon's launch indicate that a systemwide opt-out was once intended as an option for users. Facebook only later decided to remove this option, it seems. Here's the evidence. More »
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Comment by DaveMcClure500Hats: yeah agreed... so FB will probably implement the opt-out-for-all-vendors option as noted above. and of course, after doing so perhaps ~0.1%... more » | Other threads
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