Facebook is up to their dirty tricks again. Without any type of announcement or way to opt-out, all your likes and check-ins can be used as an ad. If this sounds a lot like their defunct Beacon, it should. It’s almost the exact same thing except that Facebook is now calling them “sponsored stories,” and users won’t be able to opt out of their posts being used to advertise to friends.
Facebook says that the new ads are an effort to help marketers take advantage of what people are saying about them online. “Currently, marketers don’t have the ability to know or plan word-of-mouth endorsements as part of their campaigns,” Facebook’s product marketing lead Jim Squires told the Wall Street Journal. “This gives a way for marketers to increase the visibility of stories about their organization… this is word-of-mouth marketing at scale.”
Here’s the thing, I don’t want businesses to use what I say without my explicit written permission. I’m sure Facebook’s TOS have changed to include this type of advertising over the years and we all blindly agree to them, and that’s the problem. When I recommend products/services to people, it’s because I am completely satisfied with them and think others can benefit. A check-in to Jiffy Lube is not the same thing as my whole-hearted recommendation and I wouldn’t want anyone to think of it as such.
You have to hand it to Facebook though. They turned a social network and flipped it into nothing but a glorified advertising market without anyone really noticing. Everything you see, from interests to likes and check-ins have now been turned into advertising and promotional tools for products.
Here’s my final question, since I’m now a spokesman for all these products, when do I get paid?