Facebook announced that your News Feed will have sponsored stories (aka ads) starting early next year. The stories will look like regular status updates from friends and pages you subscribe to already. The catch: you won’t be able to get rid of the ads. According to TechCrunch, “The ads will be marked ‘Sponsored’ and a rate limit will ensure users see no more than 1 Sponsored Story in the news feed per day. They’ll only feature stories about friends or Pages that users already like.” This is what advertisers have been waiting for. No longer will they be relegated to the upper-right side of your page – the penalty box, if you will. Now they get to subvert and come up with catchy ways to not look like ads right where your peepers travel to most.
If you’re a whiner, then get your lungs ready, because this is bound to upset you (as is just about any change). But really, this doesn’t seem like too big a deal. I mean, the ads are based on your taste in friends and things and there will only be one a day. Not bad for a FREE service you use every day.
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