fbLike, the OpenGraph-powered Facebook dashboard, has introduced a new kind of Facebook advertising system.
Centered on fbLike’s product comparison engine, myBrands, the system leverages Facebook’s “Like” recommendation function to create an unobtrusive advertising network. Instead of charging based on the standard CPM (a fee per thousand views), fbLike instead charges based on CPL, or “cost per Like.”
The extent of the Facebook ecosystem and the power of adding recommendations to a click-through make this an intriguing experiment. Advertisers pay dearly for opportunities to address a potential customer they have reason to believe is pre-disposed toward their product. This looks like a way to pay for that same thing, but on an as-discovered basis.
Here’s fbLike’s Abhinav Prathivadi on the goal of the platform.
“(T)his is my initiative to leverage the OpenGraph for brands. The goal is to build an ad system for major brands to run viral campaigns on Facebook without compromising on the user experience.”
fbLike has already begun to make hay on Facebook’s OpenGraph API. Now they’ve found a way to use it to leverage the ubiquitous Like , for advertising.
Could this be the first OpenGraph-based Facebook ad platform not run by Facebook itself?
It will be interesting to see what other new angles on advertising come out of leveraging closed, but widespread, systems. Outfits like Ad.ly and TwitAd already leverage the stream. Now myBrands leverages the recommendation button. Perhaps, in the end, advertisers will use every part of the deer.
