As only Bob Garfield can and with, according to him, no less than 5,000 words, Facebook’s business model woes have been solved. The short version: forget about advertising. It’s dead, It doesn’t work. It’s stupid to try to make it work. Instead, use emerging technology similar to that used on Netflix which mines video rental data to serve not ads, but links to content relevant to the individual Facebook member.
How will Facebook make money? Not from listing the content but from user clicks on the content. As Bob readily admits, this is nothing new. It’s all part of the gradual realization and implementation of emerging and existing technology which mines the growing plethora of personal information online and the intelligent use of that data to solve the Wanmaker conundrum. In a perfect advertising world, there would be no waste at all.
Whether or not that state of nirvana is ever met will depend on many, many variables not the least of which are those who will cry foul at various points along the way over the use of this technology and its potential affect on an individual’s privacy concerns.
As long as the article is, it’s worth a read if only to experience several classic Bobisms and anachronistic references to the obscure and not so obscure. Not to mention his detailed summary of the space.
