Advertisers on fb see poor results. People on a social network are there to socialize... not buy things. Imagine a vendor trying to sell things in a social atmosphere at, say, a bar. For arguments sake assume the vendor is selling something very relevant like taxi service or beer mugs. Image how annoying and out-of-place the vendor would be in that atmosphere. And this assumes a relevant product (good ad-targeting in the social networking case). The point is advertising online works but not everywhere. Contrast the bar example with an "ad-sense" example i.e. a person selling soda at a flea market. People are there to buy things and the vendor will probably be successful.
oh I agree completely. (And that explains why google is valuable - intention definitely counts.)
My contrast was to TV - when I'm watching TV I'm there to watch a show - (superbowl maybe an exception) - and the ads are an interruption. I can't see how that is much better than advertising on FB - aside from the fact it's been around longer. FB also knows more about me (at least it should - I'm always amused getting ads for dating sites when my profile is kinda clear that I'm married).
To go to your bar example - that depends on how it's done. I've bought beer mugs from a bar/brewery before - I saw the sign that they were for sale. I then had to take an action (click the link) and go to the counter and buy them. Or in terms of taxis - the rank could be there as you go in/out of the bar - perhaps even signs / posters / bar mats / coasters / etc. At the end of the night when I need a cab - then I can act on the info I've been looking at.
Now if the cab driver came up to me while talking to my friends and tried to get me into his cab - that's a different story. But branding and well targeted service offerings - that's definitely valuable. And facebook should know that I want to go to the next Living End show in Melbourne, and I want to buy the next Wheel of Time book, and I'm likely to want to go see the next Harry Potter movie. The TV station doesn't know that - and so might show me useless ads for VB or the new Zac Efron movie...
