Social Networks' Advertising Dilemma

Waters, R. (2007). Social networks advertising dilemma. FT.Com, , 1. http://proxy.consortiumlibrary.org/docview/229060417?accountid=14473


The article examines how social networks like YouTube, MySpace or Facebook tried to include advertising as a moneymaking source in their mission.It describes how social networks developed from showing users random commercials to user-targeted advertising. It started with YouTube charging a certain amount of money for each thousand viewers on its “channels”.  Then MySpace and Facebook tried to use this method of advertising through using personal information of its users. According to the author this system is most likely going to be the next big moneymaker on the Internet. While people leave a social map on networks, which enable advertisers to be very specific, the problem of monetizing this possibility comes up. What's left is a great potential to use personal information in order to adapt advertisements to everyone's interests. Waters bases his information on his own knowledge and on a statement of an expert in new media Publicis Groupe.
Considering that this article was written in 2007, it's interesting to see how advertising has developed in social media since then. YouTube still uses its channels to play commercials and Facebook has sophisticated its method to show advertisements based on the users' interests. The author was right when he said that this business would be a great source for making money.