London, Feb 3 (ANI): Social networking giant Facebook is under more pressure to aggressively sell its' users data, to meet IPO profitability expectations, according to leading digital agency chiefs.
Facebook is planning to release to its Initial Public Offering (IPO) soon, which is expected to see the company be valued at 100 billion dollars.
According to Charlie McGee, head of digital at Carat, a major UK advertising agency, Facebook will follow Google's AdSense model, and start selling adverts to its members through the 40 million plus sites, which have already plugged in Facebook Connect.
"Over 40 million websites have installed the 'Like' button across the internet, so the infrastructure and technology is already there for Facebook to start capitalising on its users' data away from the social networking site," The Telegraph quoted McGee, as saying.
McGee said that 'Featured Stories', which controversially allow brands to advertise using the names of people who 'like them' on the site, will be fully rolled out imminently.
"These stories will offer greater opportunity for brands to make better use of people's 'likes' and other data in real-time," McGee added.
Ben Wood, the managing director of iProspect, a large digital marketing agency, echoed McGee's comments about Facebook becoming more aggressive in its selling of user's data and looking to selling adverts off the site just like Google does.
He also said Facebook could start to offer brands video advert options on the site too, in a bid to charge more for adverts. Wood, however, pointed out that Facebook has to tread carefully not to annoy its 800 million members.
"I also think Facebook could run into trouble if it starts selling adverts based on its users' data away from the site. The rules around cookie laws, especially in the European Union, are getting increasingly difficult," he said. (ANI)
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