I touched briefly yesterday on the topic of advertisements and marketing in social networks - business-to-business advertisements in particular - and what I consider to be the likely outcome of the Facebook versus LinkedIn race for more growth in the professional aspect. Facebook, it seems to me, is in a better position to influence the sector more broadly, particularly as more online networkers of young adult age make their way into the workforce.
Interestingly enough, Facebook watchdog Nick O’Neill, of the website All Facebook, postulated another scenario, similarly ad-specific, in which he considers the network’s search feature as a potential monetary opportunity. In short, he envisions sponsored results would help pad the pockets of Zuckerberg and company, presumably because the process has worked in favor of most any large Web service that arranges its own pages in such a fashion. (Google, Yahoo, Microsoft Live, Ask, etc.)
Now, they would surely make money. It’s really all a matter of chance. Heavy traffic makes interaction with Facebook search results, sponsored or not, inevitable. Facebook might show a little less in the way of phenomena insofar as search trends go. It’ll never be a Google, no. But it’ll be something. The question to ask is, can that something be of the caliber that warrants a serious push for implementation? I hesitate to say yes. At this point I feel better saying no.
Yet, search isn’t everything. At least not in the traditional sense. It is a proven moneymaker, absolutely. But there must be a way to give Facebook users a more unique way to find who or what they’re looking for within the network. Advertisements are a given. Still, how and where those advertisements are displayed is what will drive Facebook from a break-even or slightly profitable enterprise into a name that carries weight behind its $5-15 billion valuation. The last few years have shown this. The plain old ads-atop-search-results design won’t make that happen. What do you think?
