Facebook really just needs to do the ad network thing and get it over with. It's 100% obviously what Facebook connect is about. If cookies worked between sites, they would have done the ad network thing a long time ago, but what they're doing is this: getting people to log in on other sites via facebook connect, and then eventually they'll use cookies to offer behavioral advertising on ALL the pages of those sites, even though facebook connect pages might only take up 2% of the site.
It is also worth noting that they just recently released their cookie API method in beta:
http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/Data.setCookie
http://wiki.developers.facebook.com/index.php/Data.getCookies
...And along those lines, I'd also like to note for the record (and I know some of you already know this) that Facebook Connect is a bunch of bullshit. It's just a marketing scheme to perpetuate this master plan. The Facebook app platform has worked outside of Facebook (e.g. it could work right here on Mashable) for a very very long time, hence all the facebook desktop apps. Moreover, with the new cookie API methods, 3rd party ad networks just for Facebook apps could already build this off-facebook behvarioral ad network based on facebook's user data. For instance, Mashable.com could do the following if they wanted:
Install Videoegg's facebook ad placeholders on their site, and have facebook user's login somewhere for any other purpose. Then set a cookie for that user with all their data, which you can do technically but are not supposed to do according to the FB TOS--but since you're essentially giving someone back his own data, who gives a shit. Then the next thing you do is you pass the facebook user's (and mashable visitor's) data to the videoegg ad scripts and generate one of their behaviorally targeted ads based on Facebook user data.
Obviously Mashable is a bad example since they make a ton more from their advertisements than any Facebook ad network, but for the rest of us, this could work out nicely. It would definitely be nice to use user data to maybe filter the ad inventory you're already using and essentially combine the Facebook ad network with a custom ad system you control. In other words, facebook user data can easily be a nice supplement to sites that have their own custom ad system and are not using 3rd party javascript-pasted ad networks (e.g. maybe you're using something open source like: http://www.openx.org/).
In Conclusion, there's an absolute ton of stuff in the Facebook API that nobody takes advantage of, not even Facebook. I don't know what Facebook's problem is--they should have just made the ad network thing pop off last year instead of Beacon, and they should have done a ton more with music and other content already for sure. They're destined to make a bunch of other wrong moves because of poor and lazy management, but I don't see any other single social network getting as big as myspace and facebook have ever again. The long-tail effect is probably gonna really shine through and there will just be a whole bunch of niche networks all connected by facebook connect or open social, and never monetized by facebook or google. For some reason, I just don't see a lot of this social interconnectivity really paying off for one company. I do so all of us enjoying all the benefits of all these open APIs and interconnectivity, but I really think the gatekeeper days over--i.e. Facebook isn't going to get rich from holding the keys. Real content, sites that offer real services, and sites that sell products will make all the money. And companies like Facebook will just foster all the innovation which will just be knocked off by companies with real business models.
Another thing people don't consider so much is gmail is pretty much the exact same thing as facebook--my guess is google hasn't made zip from their gmail property directly. They offer a whole lot of space and processing, and a bunch of crappy never clicked advertisements. They're probably only starting to make money with all the people maxing out their gmail drivespace who splurge the $20 for another bunch of gigs. But that's still probably nothing...But anyway, my point is simply that these super popular services are not offering the type of service that makes money--they aren't marketplace tools for insurance brokers to close deals with insurance providers, or some other industry that has real money in it. They're tools for spoiled ad blind internet users that won't spend a cent with it or click an ad.
Last Point: Sites/startups like facebook start with the grandiose dream of building a startup that will run itself and just deliver its owners passive income for the rest of their lives--the owners can be found sipping coronas with limes on beaches, checking their laptops every couple hours to see how many sales came in since they last checked. Facebook will never be that for Mr. Z. Whatever money he already made off of it is the most he's going to get until it's sold completely--UNLESS, they treat Facebook like an e-commerce site. An e-commerce site is a cashflow business that takes lots of daily management, doing things like: fulfillment, managing refunds, adding new products, taking inventory, updating inventory, buying new products, etc. It's not a site you push out to sail and delivers you passive income. Facebook needs to think like that interconnect itself and monetize itself with 1000 SmugMugs to make the money a site of that size should make. They need to get serious and just build real shit. It's like the beginning of that Nas song on illmatic: "Stop Fuckin Around and Be a Man!" Right now their just out of college and don't know what they want to do--they gotta get microsoft with it and sell some shit while it's hot. In other words, right now's prime time for them to start selling shit, and I don't know how much longer that window's gonna be open.
CAN FACEBOOK PLEASE HIRE ME TO TELL YOU HOW TO MAKE SOME MONEY!
James
from
FaceySpacey.com - The Startup Incubator
