While there are similarities, the main difference is that the messages broadcasted on a Connect user's newsfeed appear less like overt ads, says , an industry analyst who pens the . Unlike Beacon, users also must make a conscious decision to use Connect.

"Because users have to opt in, this is like a benign Beacon," Yarmis says. "With Connect, it's going to do it on sites where we're already comfortable with sharing."

But as Facebook directs free traffic from the social network to third party sites, it remains unclear what it will want back in the future. Although the company's executives have touted growth as the major priority of Connect, it would be in Facebook's best interest to utilize the relationship with third-party sites to learn more about users, such as looking at their search data, analysts say.

"But they need to be careful there," says Murtaza Hussain, president of , which does social networking market research. "Plus, the promise of targeted ads on social networking still needs to bear fruit, and it's blurry [from a privacy perspective]."

And Facebook has been careful. The company has stated very clearly that it doesn't yet have plans to glean key data (such as search queries) from those third party sites. According to a spokeswoman, "Facebook does not have access to information or activities that occur on the third party site."