Facebook's Potential For Putting User Data to Work Off Network Stirs Debate

12.05.2012
Facebook's desire to further put its user data to work for the social network makes sense because advertising is a major profit driver, and the company is looking to impress investors ahead of its IPO.

Facebook's business model revolves around serving people highly relevant ads, so it should come as no surprise that the company said recently that at some point it could launch an advertising network to display ads outside of its platform.

Privacy advocates are raising questions again, calling the company's proposed changes an , but Facebook says it is simply trying to be forthright with its users and potential investors.

In an it posted on May 11, Facebook wrote, "We're also clarifying our existing disclosure that we might show ads off Facebook to explain that, if we showed these ads, they may or may not include social context (such as whether your friends have 'liked' a particular business)."

"Given how much Facebook knows about its users, the network could arguably be much more effective than current ad networks which base their guesses about you on cookies placed according to the websites you've visited. Of course, it would likely only work if you stayed logged into Facebook while surfing the Web, unlike with a cookies-based approach," reports , which also cited a privacy expert who said other companies like LinkedIn and Amazon are already doing it.

Facebook says it is simply responding to an audit.