There are two ways of looking at Facebook’s new advertising system. If you haven’t kept up-to-date, read about it here.

Amazon and eBay have thrived on customer reviews for products and persons that use their sites to sell goods. Word of mouth advertising has proven to be the most effective, by far, and despite not personally knowing the reviewers, we take their words (especially the well-written reviews) very seriously.

Facebook’s new ad system will utilize many similar aspects of these proven methods, but the one major difference is we have no idea who faceless names on Amazon represent. Facebook will use our friends and their product reviews / brand loyalties to target us in an attempt to impact our future purchases. Savvy, no? We have to believe what they say, they’re our friends!

As keen as I am on the limitless advertising possibilities, I find myself asking if this is morally wrong. Sure, we “signed” the Terms of Use when we created our accounts, but that doesn’t mean that legal what-ifs need to ever become legal truths. It’s just unnerving to me to know we’re going to be targeted, like it or not.

Still, it’s impossible to ignore the genius behind this idea. I really, really wish it was mine.

Filed under: Industry News, Personal Opinions, Technology