Facebook Facing Image Problem by Third Party Ads

Facebook is facing down an image problem, and it's all by third party ads.

An untold number of Facebook's more than 200 million users have been feverishly forwarding instructions in the past week on how to opt out of being the social networking Web site's corporate pitchman, following warnings that third-party advertisers were creating advertisements with users' profile photos without permission. The warning, which is still being passed around from friend to friend throughout the site.

"FACEBOOK has agreed to let third party advertisers use your posted pictures without your permission. Click on setting up at the top where you see the Log out link. Select Privacy. Then select newsfeeds and wall. Next select the tab that reads FACEBOOK ADS. There is a drop down box, select no one. Then SAVE your changes. (REPOST to let your friends know!)"

While some third-party Facebook applications recently displayed ads with user photos without permission, officials at the Web site say they've "dealt with" those rogue networks, that the company has not changed its policies and that it continues not to sell "user information or content" to advertisers.

The announcement comes on the heels of Canada's privacy commissioner calling for better protections of Facebook users.

"The ads that spooked people were from rogue networks that have been dealt with (the ads were removed, some ad networks were banned from Facebook, and developers were warned)," Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt wrote to FOXNews.com.

"It is possible that your photo could have appeared next to an ad, if you had taken an action to associate yourself with the product — like become a fan of their page. Then, the ad would say something like, '5 of your friends have become a fan of product x.'"

One such ad used the picture of Cheryl Smith, of Lynchburg, Va., to hawk its dating service. Smith's husband recently spotted the advertisement touting "hot singles" in the area.

"I'm not joking," Smith wrote on her blog. "Not too long ago, my husband Peter had this ad appear on his Facebook page. Good thing we both have a sense of humor!"

Schnitt first addressed the controversy on Friday in a blog post titled, "Debunking Rumors about Advertising and Photos."

"If you see a Wall post or receive a message with the following language or something similar, it is this false rumor: FACEBOOK has agreed to let third party advertisers use your posted pictures WITHOUT your permission," Schnitt wrote.

The advertisements, which have been used by the site since 2007, had already been removed at the time of Schnitt's blog, which garnered at least 538 comments and more than 4,400 users who "liked" the post.

Facebook's ads, according to Schnitt's post, "always require" that users take an "express action" to link themselves with a product or service and that no data be shared with the third-party.

Schnitt referenced a "Celebs on Facebook" ad as an example of what may appear on your profile should a friend of yours becomes associated to such a product or service.

But that hasn't stopped some of Facebook users from complaining that the site needs work on its privacy settings.

"I believe they need to take a much more serious look at how they're approaching this," said Traci Knoppe, a blogger in St. Louis, Mo., who teaches amateurs how to create their own blogs. "They need to do a much better job dealing with this."

Knoppe provided instructions to opt out of the "auto-generated ads" and suggested that Facebook users forward the four-click procedure to "every single person" they know.

"It's a big concern considering how many millions of people are on Facebook posting family pictures and whatnot," Knoppe said. "The problem is that most people don't the terms of service."

According to Facebook's privacy settings, the site "occasionally pairs advertisements with relevant social actions from a user's friends to create Facebook Ads."

Users can select to appear in ads of "no one" or just their friends by making the appropriate selection under News Feed and Wall privacy settings.

"These respect all privacy rules," the site reads. "You may opt out of appearing in your friends' Facebook Ads below."

While Facebook says it has addressed the problem, Schnitt called on users to be on the lookout for misleading advertisements.

"We're committed to remaining vigilant in enforcing our policies to prevent bad ads from appearing on Facebook — whether served by us or a third party," Schnitt wrote on Friday. "But we also need your help. If you ever see a misleading ad or believe it violates our policies, report it to us."

Facebook May Be Friending Android

Android Users may soon have a way to poke and message their Facebook friends on the go, as an official application is expected to soon hit the Android Market, according to a report from TechCrunch.

The Google-backed mobile platform has drawn more than 5,000 apps, but Facebook has been conspicuously missing. The social network has long had popular mobile applications for Apple's iPhone and Research In Motion's BlackBerry lineup, it recently released a version for Microsoft's Windows Mobile, and it has strong integration with Palm's webOS platform. Google and Facebook have not officially commented on the status of an app as of press time.

The Android version will take advantage of the Open Stream API to display friends' updates and messages, but the report said this version won't be as robust as on other platforms. For example, the BlackBerry program can integrate Facebook friends' information with the handset's contact book, and this likely won't be in the Android version.

Facebook has never given an official reason for the lack of Android support, but the platform may soon become too big to ignore. Google said it expects there to be up to 20 handsets released before the end of the year, including devices from Sony Ericsson, Motorola, Samsung, and HTC. Mobile operators appear to be on board as well, as T-Mobile is making a big Android push, and Sprint Nextel and Verizon Wireless said they will soon have Android-powered smartphones.

For Facebook, the mobile space enables the company to keep users engaged on the go, as well as provide a growth avenue in regions without desktop computers. Rival MySpace said nearly 20 million users access their site through a cell phone, and that is expected to grow at a rapid pace.

Same Name Couple to Wed, Meet on Facebook

A couple with the same name who found each other through social networking website Facebook are to tie the knot.
Kelly Katrina Hildebrandt, 20, was bored one evening last year when she put her name into the site and came across Kelly Carl Hildebrandt, 24.

She sent the only other Kelly Hildebrandt, of Lubbock, Texas, a message and they became friends.

Ms Hildebrandt, a student from Miami, Florida, said she believed the chain of events was "all God's timing".

Her fiance described her first message to him, in April last year, as reading: "Hi. We had the same name. Thought it was cool," reports the Associated Press news agency.

He said: "I thought she was pretty cute."

Mr Hildebrandt admitted, however, that he had worried they might be related.

Nevertheless, the two were soon in daily contact by phone and e-mail and he "fell head over heels" after visiting her in Florida.

In December, she found a diamond engagement ring he had hidden in a treasure box on a beach.

"I thought it was fun. I had no idea it would lead to this," Mr Hildebrandt said.

The couple plan to tie the knot in October and have confirmed that they do not plan to pass their first names on to any future offspring.

Facebook passes Yahoo in surfers' time

Facebook Inc. takes up more of the average U.S. Internet surfer's time than any other Web site, according to a new report from Neilson Online.

The Palo Alto-based social networking site took up an average of four hours, 39 minutes and 33 seconds of Web users' time in June.

That passed May's leader, Yahoo Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO), which took up three hours, fifteen minutes and 55 seconds.

AOL was No. 3 with two hours, 43 minutes and 10 seconds, while Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) was No. 4 with two hours, 31 minutes and 8 seconds.

Microsoft Corp. took fourth spot in stickiness with two hours, 12 minutes and 20 seconds.

Back at No. 5 was Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) with one hour, 19 minutes and 33 seconds and at No. 6 was eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) with one hour, 17 minutes and 59 seconds.

In terms of overall users, Google remained No. 1 with 155.6 million users, compared to No. 2 Microsoft (139.1 million) and No. 3 Yahoo (134.3 million).

Facebook revenue to top $500 million in 2009

Facebook board member Marc Andreessen, who just launched a new venture fund, said in an interview with Reuters (published Monday) that he expects the company's revenue to be in excess of $500 million in 2009, and that in five years it'll be well into the billions.

"Generally speaking, people who are selling their stock in Facebook now are making a mistake," he told Reuters regarding the fact that since an initial public offering is still a ways off, Facebook is permitting some employee stock sales to Digital Sky Technologies, the Russian firm that invested $200 million in the site in May. Andreessen himself is not a personal investor in Facebook, and said that "I probably could have if I had tried hard but I didn't."

If Facebook worked the ad-sales front a bit harder, Andreessen added in the interview, revenue could already be over a billion.

But Facebook has never taken kindly to traditional display advertisements, choosing instead to experiment with "engagement ads" integrated into the social-networking experience--a product it may potentially extend into Facebook Connect's participating sites, which now number over 10,000.

Additionally, Facebook has been working toward an alternative revenue stream with its "credits" system, a virtual currency that for now is restricted to the company's in-house "Gifts" application. Sometime in the not-so-distant future, the Facebook currency system will be made available to developers using the social network's API, which could produce a significant new source of revenue for Facebook as it takes a cut of transactions.

Andreessen--the Netscape founder and Silicon Valley mainstay whose current projects include social-network builder Ning--has been on Facebook's board for just over a year. He joined at the personal request of CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who said at the time that "Marc is an industry leader, and we're fortunate to have him join our board."

Facebook Trying To Launch Online Payment Method For Mobile In Future

There is no doubt that Facebook is developing a Web payment platform rival those of Google, Amazon and eBay (PayPal). But Facebook can also be looking to break one of the biggest nuts in the online payment world, which is mobile. Facebook spokesperson Kathleen Loughlin confirmed reports that the social networking site has hired Prashant Fuloria, a former Google employee who worked on Google Checkout; given Facebook's clear focus on mobile web applications, Fuloria's direction is clear.

Principal roadblock to facilitate mobile payments, mobile operators themselves. In order to charge customers for Web sites to choose between two equally deadly poison: allow customers to charge products or services to their wireless bill, which is transparent and simple, but cost provider for almost 30 percent of the transaction price or other they have to ask customers to select a payment method as a credit card or PayPal or Google Checkout account. Mark Curtis, CEO of dating and social networking site Flirtomatic, said that the size of the transaction fees collected by the carriers means that he can not sell genuine goods unless the customer does not know what the price should be. Men may be willing to pay 30 percent above market prices for sending flowers to a new boyfriend, but it is there. The other poison - using a payment system - stops transaction cold, unless customers have already used it on their mobile devices in this area.

Her Facebook payment cycle platform comes in. Facebook has over 200 million active users (people who have visited at least once in the last 30 days), which means that the odds are pretty good that a mobile user already has an account. And Facebook has established a close relationship to its base - a relative heat-treated by the heat of what can only be described as a lovers' quarrel over the fundamental issues of trust and privacy. I have absolutely no problem to think that members should rely on Facebook with a payment platform that they can use to pay for the goods sold by retailers over the Internet using Facebook Connect, which is used by members to "combine their Facebook experience with all participating Web, desktop or mobile device. "

Note that even back in December, Facebook's release emphasized the mobile aspect of this feature. Despite the many road blocks, customers have shown a greater willingness to pay for products and services through mobile devices than traditional web-surfing devices, Curtis of Flirtomatic told me. And where Facebook is concerned, he agreed that "mobility is a critical part of what they see."

One indication of the importance Facebook places on the mobile: the fourth person in the company's organizational chart, after chief executive Mark Zucker Berg, and in front of COO Sheryl Sandberg, are Chamath Palihapitiya, the company's Vice President for growth, mobile and international.

Despite the size, or perhaps because of it - and how it came to be so big - Google has not come close to establish the kind of stranglehold on the payment that it has on search; PayPal is painful for both suppliers and customers that explains why the was not taken in spite of being the only obvious choice for so many years, and Amazon has not given someone a convincing reason to register unless they purchase directly from Amazon. Facebook has a huge user base and a convincing reason to sign up, that it has not rushed a payment system to the market shows how important it believes this to his future. And unlike Beacon or design, this is not something that members will forgive and forget if the area is it wrong the first time.