Ok Here’s At Least Part Of What Facebook Is Announcing On Tuesday: Project Beacon

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1. Andrew
   

   November 2nd, 2007 at 11:15 am

   Don’t you think users would be in an uproar about something like this? It seems like just too much information.

2. Joey Tyson
   

   November 2nd, 2007 at 11:18 am

   Does this mean Facebook is, in a sense, competing with Amazon now?

3. James
   

   November 2nd, 2007 at 11:21 am

   Facebook is competing with everyone now!

4. Stu
   

   November 2nd, 2007 at 11:22 am

   Competing? They are sending them traffic via the feed. This takes serious 3rd party collaboration, and I know for sure I don’t want to have that info put in my feed. Creeeepyyyyy.

5. faceloop
   

   November 2nd, 2007 at 11:23 am

   Im gonna coin this “OpenSpyware”

6. Garth
   

   November 2nd, 2007 at 11:24 am

   Joey,
   I see it as a symbiotic relationship between Facebook and Amazon. The newsfeeds will serve to drive more traffic to Amazon, which generates revenue for them. The newsfeeds also (hopefully) increase the usefulness of Facebook, helping retain users.

   My Facebook books app uses a very similar approach. When users add books to their profile this event is posted to their newsfeed, and other users get pulled to my app as well as Amazon where they can buy books. If they buy something, then I get my cut as well.

   Garth

7. meetingflex.com
   

   November 2nd, 2007 at 11:25 am

   FB gets back.

   http://www.meetingflex.com
   Social Networking + Video - Crap

8. Terry Heaton
   

   November 2nd, 2007 at 11:27 am

   This is very helpful, Michael. Thank you (and God bless TechCrunch).

   Opting in for new data is one thing, but will the use of existing profile data — which let’s assume will be used with the Facebook ad network for targeting on 3rd party sites — be opt-in or opt-out? That, to me, is the the biggie.

9. Slappenstance
   

   November 2nd, 2007 at 11:27 am

   Worst feature ever.

10. sea
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 11:29 am

    It plan to enter china now, quite interesting. It is totally different market. google ebay yahoo all struggle there, will facebook ok?

11. YELP IS GREAT
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 11:34 am

    Sure…I want everyone to know that I just purchased “How to pick up girls for dummies” from amazon.com

12. Chris Ar
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 11:37 am

    this is a waste of time. Last night, I was spending time removing feeds on my fb account. To a certain degree, people want privacy. What i am buying and where i am going? I don’t want my 500 friends to know everything I do. I mean, are we that insecure that we want our friends to know everything that we do. Already facebook’s feed is too much IMO, this is just plain silly. What next..have a webcam feed so that everyone will know that I am taking a shower? Geesh

13. Mark Hendrickson
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 11:39 am

    I can see this playing out for users as the news feed did: initially creepy but eventually addicting. I, for one, would be very interested in seeing what my friends are buying online.

14. steve jabs
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 11:48 am

    It’s only a matter of time before they know when I’m going to the bathroom!

15. Nick O'Neill
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 11:48 am

    The privacy implications of Facebook are getting significant. I’m not sure that I want them to know all this information about me.

16. Sipboy
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 11:54 am

    This is very, very, very scarry! I’m starting to get turned off by FB.

    http://www.MyCiti.us

17. justinjdennis
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 11:58 am

    http://www.gooruze.com/article.....d-Machine/

18. Sandeep
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 12:09 pm

    This is a stark violation of my privacy. If I make a purchase on Amazon, then I trust Amazon to not provide my “information” to any 3rd party. FB is trying to get the information that users provide to 3rd party providers. It was bad enough that I was being watched every time I was browsing internet (example: google). Now, they are selling this information for targeting ads. One more way to breach my privacy. Where will it stop?

19. Betty Boop
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 12:11 pm

    This idea sucks.

20. Joey Tyson
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 12:12 pm

    @6: What I meant is that Amazon’s business relies heavily on tracking your purchases and interests. Amazon has essentially been a social application for years, with the way it tracks your purchases and provides user reviews. But you’re right, Amazon can still benefit from this.

    As to others’ privacy issues, note once again that your privacy is only compromised to the degree that you want it to be - Facebook is giving you complete control over the level of interaction between other sites and you Facebook feed. As I always say, if anyone’s stalking you on Facebook, you’re letting them.

21. fred
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 12:13 pm

    Why would anyone allow the feed in their profile about this type of activity?

22. Alex H
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 12:14 pm

    I think this is awesome! As long as I can pick and choose what goes to my feed then I’m happy.

    Myspace could never handle this type of thing.

23. Morgan
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 12:24 pm

    @1 - You would think so, wouldn’t you? But not when it’s fresh-faced facebook, people love it then. I just hope the ‘acceptance of terms’ is a pre-filled radio button, so it’s opt-out only.

    Based on the facebook’s sterling record of respecting their user’s privacy, I guess I can’t imagine anyone being nervous about this either.

24. Gibbus
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 12:25 pm

    I think everyone concerned with the privacy implications should understand that this is optional according to the article. It’s not like it’s going to force you to send the information to Facebook without your consent. I mean, how would they even know who you were on Facebook without entering in some sort of user information or tying an email address into the account?

    Additionally, this doesn’t sound like Amazon only, just that they’re one of the confirmed third parties perhaps? I think this is a really cool feature as well. Who cares if my friends know I bought “You’ve Got Mail” on DvD or something. If I don’t want them to know, I’ll just opt out. If I don’t mind, I’ll let it post and it might spark some additional interaction based on fans of the movie. It’s just a great way to extend your social graph.

25. jc
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 12:26 pm

    need to new tab called FaceCrunch or CrunchBook

26. Velioncho
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 12:35 pm

    all crap…all facebook. i am ouuta here for a week, hopefully i dont see any facebook crap any more. Last one week , there are 4 articles a day on average about facebook. My time is more worth than reading this crap.

27. Michael Bauser
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 12:41 pm

    Jeez guys, overreact much?

    The story says it’s voluntary on a purchase-by-purchase basis. If you don’t want people to know what books you’re buying, you click “no.” Half of you didn’t even read the story you’re commenting on.

    As for those of you who think nobody will use this feature. What? Have you ever looked at one of the major social networking sites?

    There are lots of people who obviously do want people to know what books they buy and read. Otherwise, there wouldn’t more than a dozen Facebook applications devoted to people listing the contents of their personal libraries. (That doesn’t even include things like all those silly “Harry Potter” apps, which relate to their users’ reading preferences.)

    And even if you’ve never looked at the applications, you should have noticed that MySpace, Facebook, and several other networks have “Favorite Books” as part of the basic member information.

    People talk about books. Some people even use the books they buy and read as status symbols (The “I read smart books crowd”). People will let Facebook broadcast book purchases they think make them look good, and they’ll hide purchases they don’t think make them look good. Just like in real life.

    Seriously, there’s like 10 people in this conversation who need to turn off their computers right now and go talk to some normal human beings. It’s getting scary how much you don’t know about people.

28. Antti
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 12:42 pm

    I think the point for users is this: you get recommendations from your friends. Your friend finds an interesting book, then another friend checks it out and buys it too. The book might be worth a look from you too? Or they both buy the same plasma TV set, which is on sale. You were looking for a new telly and there it is.

    Facebook is trying to bring this kind of social aspect to a variety of activities, including shopping. I think Mark Z. was talking about this in his f8 keynote speech?

    It isn’t easy and there are always privacy issues Facebook has to solve. I think shopping is always case-sensitive: if I buy a present for my friend, I don’t want them to see it on my feed. That’s why I would opt in to include it with a secondary confirmation via the toast.

    I believe it is possible to find a win-win-win situation here - FB, third party and the user can all benefit from this.

29. Doeboy
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 12:44 pm

    BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU

    An example of this new service in action………..

    “Michael Arrington bought ‘a romantic all expense paid weekend getaway with Mark Zuckerburg’ at Ebay”

30. Mark Zuckerberg
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 12:51 pm

    Facebook sucks!

31. Berlin
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 12:57 pm

    This will definitely work. People are show-offs. Social networking is all about showing off.

    This is no different than, “what did you buy today?” on every single vbulletin, phpbb, or smf powered community forums.

32. Michael
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 12:58 pm

    I agree with #25 JC. I am getting tired of reading about FB on FaceCrunch. Why don’t you just wait until the end of the day and post a 5,000 word brief on Facebook’s daily “news”. Or, maybe we can just have Mike or Erick start a live blog so that everyone can know exactly what’s happening on Facebook, 24/7.

33. Berlin
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 1:01 pm

    @28 …word of mouth

34. Jonathan Mendez
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 1:06 pm

    Only Google and Amazon have ever proved that micro-targeting anything to the level that this information is supposedly helpful to advertisers works any better. Micro-targeting works for them because the closer you get to intent the better you can deliver relevance. The FB problem is no one (right now) comes to Facebook with commercial intent. It’s a SOCIAL network.

    Unless FB can develop a transactional model that is intent driven they are more Yahoo/AOL than they are Google/Amazon. It’s possible…but it also has NOTHING to do with why the FB audience comes to and uses the site. My personal feeling is these types of things need to be related to the DNA of a site for them to work. Case in point is Yahoo. They have a search box on every page. How many people use it? Not many. Folks are there for other things –same as Facebook.

35. Smiley
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 1:10 pm

    yea mark facebook sucks. wtf! hahahahahahaha very funny. This is a very bright idea. Facebook is really thinking! They are on the roll!

36. Randy
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 1:10 pm

    This is getting insane. All you Facebook zombies need to wake up and open your eyes to what’s going on here. Close your account and move on. Facebook has been built from the ground up to collect extraordinarily personal information about you. YOUR IDENTITY IS OWNED by Facebook! Facebook intends to LEASE YOUR IDENTITY to advertisers for millions of dollars! They are making $$$$ OFF YOUR HARD WORK.

37. whoopie
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 1:16 pm

    well it seems there is only one way to make sure my data is never leaked on FB: leave facebook

38. Antti
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 1:16 pm

    @33. Word of mouth, exactly. But this time with the mouths of my 50+ friends instead of the three jackasses I hang around with, and my mom.

39. Ted
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 1:23 pm

    fail.

40. Carlos Gonzalez
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 1:26 pm

    The rich get richer once again! While you are purchasing junk from all over the internet you the user decide what websites you want to advertise for free on your account. All the websites that you decide to opt in thank you while laughing straight to the bank, because your friend never knew about Overstock.com but he/she knows you have a FB account and loves gossip.

41. David
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 1:28 pm

    There’s something that seems to be missed in all this - I have yet to see a company effectively use ‘highly, highly targeted ads’. Amazon knows nearly everything I have bought for nearly a decade, and I don’t think I’ve ever purchased one of their recommendations. Even if users grant Facebook access to their purchase information (and I think they will), unless someone gets a lot more clever with algorithms than they have thus far, the info is essentially useless.

42. sweller
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 1:32 pm

    hello spamworld.

43. Jordan Mitchell
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 1:39 pm

    Project Beacon, as in Web Beacon or Web Bug — see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_beacon.

    This will be an interesting experiment to see the balance of user value to deep user profiling. The user value proposition seems very thin to me, and it appears Farcebook is only allowing users to control the DISPLAY of this information — not the COLLECTION or use. Which means regardless of your privacy settings, and whether or not your friends see it in your news feed, THEY will still record what books you bought and use that to their benefit. And there is nothing you can do about it.

44. Smiley
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 1:41 pm

    Randy everybody doesnt think like you! This makes the whole thing fun! Facebook is really trying to inovate creative ideas that no other social networking site has. They are really kicking some ass here!

45. Smiley
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 1:54 pm

    if facebook can do it in a way that you can click on those ads and get paid then everyone will wanna let all the advertisers display their ads on their profiles and then facebook will be on their way chasing google on the road! What do you guys think? This aint lame?

46. Ryan H
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 1:59 pm

    Smiley,

    No, they are trying really hard to make as much money as possible. That’s it.

47. Ryan H
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 2:01 pm

    Smiley, I have a question for you. How can I contact you?

48. Ull
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 2:09 pm

    If Amazon et all start communicating my private information to Facebook, I’ll happily jump on a class action law suit bandwagon — both FB and Amazon would be violating my privacy. The idea is outrageous and creepy as all hell. And to think that supposedly some users were turned off by MySpace because it had too many display ads… Good grief.

49. Jay G
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 2:12 pm

    This must seem seen as such a great idea to the dev that thought it up, but there is no way I would ever trust this info to be shared. I will be closing my FB account immediately!

50. Smiley
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 2:14 pm

    Ryan you can email me at chibizfb5@yahoo.com or smiley@mycutegalaxy.com

51. TiredofFacebook
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 2:15 pm

    Mike,

    It would be better if you have a facebook subdomain under techcrunch (like facebook.techcrunch.com).
    I am getting tired of reading ONLY about facebook.

52. Jay G
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 2:17 pm

    Let’s just install a FB/Google/Yahoo toolbar or desktop app so they track everything I type, every site I visit, and every screen I look at… all in the name of advertising. Could this be more sketchy…

53. Thinker
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 2:28 pm

    Privacy should be all good..imagine what google does to your E-mail where all the targeted ads you see alongside are based on your E-mail and after all these years we have forgotten all about it and religiously use gmail. If we are in hands of good developers and a reputed brand I think we have nothing to worry about, especially with privacy!

54. Jack
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 2:37 pm

    This is a nice idea, if users buy it. Plenty of people seem hacked off with the intrusion of some apps already, let alone this.

55. Andrew
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 2:40 pm

    Social networking is, and will always be about shameless self-promotion and boasting, under the auspices of friendly twitter updates to friends. This is why the ability to notify others of recent purchases (Beacon), especially ones that are perceived to be glamorous, will be desired by the masses. Sure, there are good arguments that the purchase of a product provides implicit testimony of its value, but the reason it will work is pretty sad. It feeds off of and continues to perpetuate lame insecurities about our need to become celebrities, even if only among our parochial circle of “friends.” SN is really the ultimate tool for “look at me, look at me” one-upmanship. That is why most will sell their privacy, and participate.

    Sorry for the obvious psychobabble, but news of FB is getting exhausting. It’s a big world out there, and some interesting things going on, how about branching out.

56. Berlin
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 2:41 pm

    @48 if you want privacy, unplug your modem.

57. Andrew
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 2:48 pm

    The next step of course is “transaction highjacking”, whereby when you visit a competitor’s site (that does not have a deal with Facebook), you will get a notification that “5 of your friends got a better deal with us.” The banner could be displayed as you enter the digits of your credit card in a checkout page or at any stage in the process. Just wait, it will get ugly.

58. Chris
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 3:05 pm

    “Many of the details are still vague, but a leaked Facebook document makes at least one part of the network clear. Facebook is going to be gunning hard to get lots and lots of third party data about its users into its database.”

    Imagine if the live.com cookie data is mapped against somebody’s Facebook data?

    Now imagine what Google is doing with Doubleclick.

59. geiser80
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 3:14 pm

    very interesting, but check out this article about facebook:

    http://www.btleague.net/info.asp?id=212

60. Christian Flickinger
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 3:29 pm

    @Mark: I agree, scary at first, but fun afterwards. I would also not mind if SOME things i buy are mentioned to others… I already share the blogs I read, the videos I view, etc etc… why not show off what i buy too!

61. Stu
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 3:49 pm

    FB is just jumped the shark in their quest to become the next google. I, and probably millions of others would gladly pay $20-40/yr to avoid any of this commercial BS. Ok, which network should we all go to next? Clean and private, maybe ning?

62. Jay
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 3:56 pm

    This is the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard.

63. Adam Benayoun
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 3:59 pm

    It seems like Facebook is trying to compete with the titans.
    What will be next? Facebook will roll their own search engine?
    All of this sounds scary.

    http://www.octabox.com

64. John
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 4:05 pm

    For thos absolutely sick of Facebook stories on techcrunch, update your Techcrunch feed to this:

    http://pipes.yahoo.com/pipes/p.....RWmFiXrL0A

    It removes any post with facebook in the title

    Enjoy.

65. NZN
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 4:43 pm

    Facebook used to be a project in the old world…now it is a full-scale enterprise. Times have changed. But some things have not changed at all. People sell their valuable individual commodities for pennies on the dollar far too willingly. Mankind makes slaves of itself one person at a time until there is so much momentum a revolution is required to fix the inequity.

    When will digital individuals realize the power they ought to possess?

    Your data is your data. You ought to own it. Your participation in any network is a valuable commodity in and of itself. Pooled together with 50 million other individuals, you become a groundswell. Led by an entrepreneurial philosophy espousing universally distributed private ownership at the individual identity level… well you have a new socio-economic system.

    America and the net. What a relationship. Our tax dollars created its existence. A small group organized its deployment and financing (NSF/NSI/Cerf), and we all develop its value as a public infrastructure commodity. Every nation gets to do it its own way. It is distributed into our homes, our hands, our ears, our eyes, our minds. We build its archives one database at a time, give our contribution away without any correlation of value to the individual participant in the system… and get all geeky over our creation!

    We are teaching our young to be foolish. Free information is not the answer. Advertising revenue supported information is not the answer. A global digital brain structured as a resource and a marketplace simultaneously needs to be structured correctly if it is to perform correctly. Performance… that is the goal of everyone, whether we know it or not.

    You must own your life in a digitally enabled socio-economic system. This is a matter of National and International importance. Just like the Earth must be valued in order that we develop it in a sustainable manner, our individual lives must be organized in a value-enhancing manner. That is the reason we create socio-economic systems. That is why we study economics.

    You dont own your life currently.

    Facebook can not form an appropriate relationship with its users until it is doing so with the direct owners of all information created, consumed and distributed via Facebook. Advertising supported business models are feasible only when there is fair and honest participation. The YouTube model is flawed.

    This is a race to the right finish line. Every nation is represented. No one is doing it right yet. America is organized as a nation with ownership in mind, but in practise, none of its citizens own their citizenship. America is owned by owners, but America pretends it is ruled by free men who own nothing.

    There is one thing more powerful than freedom… OWNERSHIP.

    Stop casting your pearls before the pigs dummies. Hold out as long as you can… whats next has yet to get here. But first you have to care.

    No one seems to care.

66. Dheeraj Sultanian
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 4:44 pm

    So here’s the main rub - if I buy something, and it turns out it sucks, or the merchant messes up the order - there is no recourse - if my friends buy in after seeing the feed and they get screwed over, they’re going to come after me. For that reason alone, I would never OK a toast.

    On the other hand, if facebook kept the data, and prompted you after about a week or two (depending on the shipping method) to simply rate the product you bought using radio button prompts (like they do for “how you know them” when you add a friend) you could have a feed that says:
    “X bought Y from Z and LOVED IT”
    or
    “X bought Y from Z and IT SUCKED”

    That would be much better data - Man, I should be running facebook!

67. chrisco
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 4:47 pm

    Seems like FB — and every other able-bodied Internet/Media/Advertising company/VC on the planet — is dead set on pushing the invasion of privacy issue to the breaking point (i.e., user backlash, bad PR, defection, etc.). That’ll open up a nice new niche and force an “opt-out” feature. Cheers, chrisco

68. chrisco
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 4:56 pm

    @65: You’re right, the masses in America — and elsewhere? — don’t are… as long as their getting theirs. In general, Bush’s America = “me,” not “we.” I don’t think it’s always been that way, and it doesn’t have to stay that way, but… -chrisco

69. techcrunchreader
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 6:19 pm

    Mike, any news on the new “Pandemic” program that Facebook will launch soon?

70. direk
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 6:30 pm

    to all of you who are saying that what facebook is doing is scary or creepy, invading your privacy or whatnot… you have already been victims before with gmail and other google products. come to think of it, google’s stuff are even more evil because they dont ask you if you allow them to scan your files or not. atleast with this facebook app they ask you if ya want it posted or not.

    back to the topic, i think this app will work, and its not like they will invade your privacy. it’s just like those other facebook apps that asks you if ya want it posted or not. this app could also extend into gaming, say for example you bought a new game wouldnt you want it posted in your FB account to get more discussion from other people or to get tips. and also if ya buy a new laptop say a macbook or a vaio, you get comments or tips even from other people. makes online support way easier and it comes from people you know.

    IMHO thats cool.

71. William Tildesley
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 6:38 pm

    I certainly won’t be allowing Facebook to access what I’ve bought/looked at/etc on other websites. I allow my friends to see what I do on say twitter, flickr, but all that stuff is open and public and i have no problem in sharing that - what I do have a problem is with companies sharing data about what I’ve bought and really I don’t trust Facebook with that data. Especially if you’ve been reading the latest Facebook privacy concerns on valleywag. I can see people getting upset. I’m not really that bothered about privacy matters but this is too much information. If they don’t allow me to opt-out then I will delete my account, plain and simple.

72. Ryan H
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 6:54 pm

    #70,

    If you think they will delete the data you say you don’t want to share, you are fooling yourself. They may not overtly expose the data, but they will use it.

73. direk
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 7:18 pm

    #72

    you may be right mate, but isnt that what google’s doing to us now? especially with gmail?

    i know this isnt a facebook vs google debate. but what im saying is: why the double standard? atleast for me this is just for purchases, gmail scans all your data and people are fine with that. and i think they (3rd party programmer or even google themselves) will make an app like this for open social. i dont know… i just think they will… cheers!

74. Project
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 7:28 pm

    Im sorry guys, but this is awesome if utilised properly.

    “Michael Arrington bought tickets for the Led Zeppelin concert….”
    “Thomas Hawk uploaded these pictures to Flickr…”

    It is an extension of Platform. A clever extension at that.

75. jamster
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 7:43 pm

    this should be interesting.

76. Ryan H
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 7:53 pm

    …Or Johnny bought Depends diapers. Yeah, real compelling.

77. Anatoly
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 7:57 pm

    You know what, this is starting to get annoying.. the big brother syndrome on the internet, with various people collecting all sorts of data.

    Time to invest in high quality open source tools for :
    a) Captcha breaking
    b) Ad filtering

78. Ryan H
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 8:02 pm

    #61, if 100K users are willing to spend $20/year, I’ll open a clean, private social network with no unwanted ads. Most people are conditioned to free though.

79. Grimace McFriendly
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 8:30 pm

    As long as SkinStore.com doesn’t start publishing my herpes ointment purchases to my news feed, it’s all good.

80. Vern at Aim for Awesome
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 9:03 pm

    Scary stuff. I like the idea of targeting -yeah! But, I don’t approve of this way to do it. I missed it, was this going to be the default in facebook - or you have to opt-in?

81. Kerim B
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 9:27 pm

    Expected move.

    Eventually we can expect Facebook sharing revenues that result from News Feed clicks with users who “influence” net new sales for products/services.

    Here is an example of how this would play out:

    Andre Igissa, a 20 year old college student who plays varsity tennis for his college (who also happens to be very popular amongst his classmates) buys a pair of new Nike sneakers and a new model Kodak camera. His friends and fans (who are influenced by his choices) click on his feed and buy the same products.

    Kodak and Nike pay $$$ to Facebook. Facebook shares it with Andre.

82. Steve Ballmer
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 10:06 pm

    WOW, Can I invest or what?

    http://fakesteveballmer.blogspot.com

83. OpenSkeptic
    

    November 2nd, 2007 at 11:10 pm

    From their TOS:

    Any feedback you provide will be considered the property of Google, may be used by Google and its affiliates for any purpose. Such feedback may include bug reports, problems or deficiencies encountered by you while using the API.

    http://code.google.com/apis/opensocial/terms.html

    And to think that this openness was supposed to change the world. Can someone step up here and analyze the “ownership” model of this API wonder.

84. TechYob
    

    November 3rd, 2007 at 12:08 am

    Industrial age - commoditisation of labour and production
    Marketing age - commoditisation of consumption
    Internet age - commoditisation of identity

85. steve
    

    November 3rd, 2007 at 5:39 am

    I’m cancelling my facebook today. Officially. This is the scariest thing I have ever heard.

86. Jim
    

    November 3rd, 2007 at 7:34 am

    A lot of the naysayers here aren’t getting it — you have complete control over privacy settings. You can opt out permanently if you don’t like it. I think most people on Facebook will like it, just like they like the mini-feed.

    Google fanboys: go work on your Plaxo widgets.

87. Rikk Carey
    

    November 3rd, 2007 at 12:08 pm

    If this is true, Facebook will have officially have jumped the shark.

    Sure, FB will make a lot of money for some time. But, when the value shifts from the USER to the ADVERTISERS, they will lose their luster and people will search out the next new thing.

    This feature will be sold as a great tool for the users, but the reality is that they are building it for advertising purposes (speculation on my part). And, while there is some value in seeing what my friends are purchasing–I may want to buy it too–I believe that a lot of people will consider their purchasing history very private info and not want it made public. It will be very hard imo for FB to spin this as good for users.

88. Petri Pokka
    

    November 3rd, 2007 at 4:03 pm

    I think it is not just creepy, it is outright insane. Technology may be useful, but I’d like to see it implemented in some other, less stalkerish, way.

    I though Americans were over-protective of their privacy, but I see that there are reasons for it.

89. James
    

    November 3rd, 2007 at 10:37 pm

    It needs some work but it’s a great idea (although we’re still looking at speculation).

    While people don’t like the idea of behavioral tracking, do you really want to keep getting ads that have nothing to do with you, or do you want to see things relevant?

    Odds are, what your friends are interested in are relevant to you. And statistical relations off of that data probably are also useful to you. While everyone gets creeped out about things tracing use, there’s significant benefit. Honestly, I don’t care about some thing that tracks 50 million users knowing what I like if it serves up information about things I don’t know about but have a good chance of liking. I like it even more when it gives opt-out capabilities like most behavioral networks and ad networks.

90. Michael
    

    November 3rd, 2007 at 10:38 pm

    Join the new facebook group against it, already:
    http://vt.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6003773401

91. Elisha
    

    November 4th, 2007 at 3:30 am

    It appears that I will be given some control over whether a book purchased on amazon appears in my news feed on facebook. This factor seems to have made some people happy.

    The really big scary question is am I given any control over whether this information from amazon is stored in facebooks database?!!!

    Can anybody answer this for me.

92. Jer
    

    November 5th, 2007 at 12:03 am

    Movies?! Now we can watch movies “within Facebook“?

93. Joe
    

    November 5th, 2007 at 9:15 am

    You say we have options to opt out of this. Are they not live yet? I can’t find them.

94. Christopher Harley
    

    November 5th, 2007 at 8:30 pm

    I think it’s a great idea! I want smarter targeted advertising. As an Amazon Prime member I often buy nonperishable food items from Amazon, such as coffee and spices, without having to worry about shipping charges. If another retailer can find me and counteroffer with a lower price, than I win. With that said, I’ll always opt for the privacy notification after each purchase. In doing so, aren’t I acknowledging that it’s me who is ultimately responsible for my actions while online? Allowing retailers to cultivate a better understanding of my preferences means that I’m, in effect, able to outsource the trouble of hunting down all these great deals and therefore spending less time online. That’s something we can all appreciate.

95. sir flexalot
    

    November 6th, 2007 at 12:13 pm

    this couldn’t be more 1984… why not just publish their receipt or a transaction log from their credit card? I don’t see what the point of this would be except to sell to advertisers and for added creepiness factor of 100x.

96. knightrojen
    

    November 6th, 2007 at 1:43 pm

    Did you read the article? AT ALL?

    It’s optional. It’s opt-in, opt-out. They aren’t making it mandatory. They aren’t saying it’s a new “requirement.” They’re saying - you want your friends to know? We’ll cut out the middle man so you can click “Update the feed for your friends on facebook.”

    You want your friends to know you did X at X? They make it easy. Seeing how many people love twitter and the “_my_name_ is…” crap you think people’d be more receptive.

97. facebook_junkie
    

    November 6th, 2007 at 2:43 pm

    @knightrojen: You can only opt-out of sharing the information with your friends. You cannot opt-out of sharing the information with Facebook. So make sure you are comfortable with the fact that Facebook will know every time you buy a movie ticket at Fandango, shop on Ebay, leave a comment on a TypePad blog, rent something on Blockbuster, etc, etc

98. Beacon
    

    November 6th, 2007 at 3:45 pm

    Project Beacon group on Facebook
    http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7278541402

99. sleeplessone
    

    November 6th, 2007 at 4:11 pm

    @96 The display of the data is optional. If you believe for one minute that the data is not collected regardless of your privacy settings you are a fool.

100. fastone
     

     November 6th, 2007 at 5:24 pm

     If you want privacy you can probably get some in a deserted island

     Seriously, Are people really thinking that internet user identities are securely locked away in a safe somewhere. I’ve heard stories of even tiny mom & pop I S Ps selling user data like crazy. Well lets not get started with the phone companies… get real people.

     –
     HappyWishes - A cool new Facebook App
     http://www.facebook.com/apps/a.....5595659604

101. shayne
     

     November 6th, 2007 at 6:35 pm

     “Did you read the article? AT ALL?

     It’s optional. It’s opt-in, opt-out. They aren’t making it mandatory. They aren’t saying it’s a new “requirement.” They’re saying - you want your friends to know? We’ll cut out the middle man so you can click “Update the feed for your friends on facebook.”

     You want your friends to know you did X at X? They make it easy. Seeing how many people love twitter and the “_my_name_ is…” crap you think people’d be more receptive.”

     Yeah, but facebook puts a crazy amount of pressure on you to sign up for all sorts of ludicrous nonsense.

102. Malte Landwehr
     

     November 21st, 2007 at 1:03 pm

     Facebook already is the biggest database of user behavioral information and now they will gather even more data about us? Fearsome!

103. Markus Runtzell, Sweden
     

     November 27th, 2007 at 4:12 am

     No, this won’t make it better!

     Facebook already lost the last few ounces of trust that I had for them.

     I’ll be deleting my account on Nov30, the international “Leaving Facebook-day”!

104. Progressive Patriot
     

     November 27th, 2007 at 6:15 am

     Sounds like facebook is competing with the NSA. It’s real simple, don’t use facebook meet people face to face.

105. Shaping Youth
     

     November 27th, 2007 at 12:56 pm

     Hey, Markus, I like your idea…I may have to ‘Facebook it’ to my friends & groups…(ah, the irony!) I plopped it into our links list on Shaping Youth where I just finished a laborious round-up of commentary on this issue, called “Facebook, Can you hear me now? Peepin’ is Creepin’ Me Out!” I had no idea they added a Digg-feature to the whole feed debacle either, sheesh. Here’s my post: http://www.shapingyouth.org/blog/?p=810

106. Megan
     

     November 27th, 2007 at 2:53 pm

     Question!
     How are these websites being connected in the first place? IP address? Email address? You connected your accounts two months ago on a whim and have forgotten about it till now(I don’t mean to sound snarky, but I’ve seen at least one website offering that my account could be linked with my facebook account)?

     I think this is important to know before this gets into a larger shitstorm.