Facebook is throwing ugly ads in my face. If I recall correctly, they had the worst conversion rate; 0.4% or so, wasn’t it? Why not try to be subtle, or just sell platform licenses already?
Facebook needs to make money to support a extraordinary number of members, but they can’t do it with ads. Facebook’s members are of a different class, who are trained to filter ads. They are those who like Facebook because it connects them to others, not just boasts their ego. Their usage pattern is different than that of mere “profile pages”.
Being a social platform causes pressure that Facebook might face difficulty coping with. Some think Facebook is becoming “MySpacesified”, and that if MySpace opens up, they have a chance to crush Facebook.
To be honest, I’ve tried social network sites. I was one of the early Orkut members, until it became a nuclear waste site. I couldn’t see the point behind it all. Now I have a Facebook page, and I have a positive feeling about it, it has already connected me to 4 of my childhood friends.
Facebook can’t sell me ads. They can sell me service.