Facebook on the Path to Greater Monetization

September 13, 2010

Facebook just launched a new web app that allows users to discover pages that are similar to what they already like or what their friends like.  This is like the Genius app from iTunes that uses algorithmic calculations to determine music you might like based on your preference already stored by iTunes.  It’s a visual interface that aims to build upon their attempt to further monetize by creating profiles based on your likes.

The app divides pages into nine categories: Musicians, Sports, Celebrities, Movies, TV Shows, Media, Politicians, Brands and Games. You can view images representing different pages in each category, or you can view pages from all categories, which include other things like local businesses or photographer friends’ pages, for example.

On the right, Facebook has included a list of the friends who have the most pages in common with you. Clicking on any of the names will pop up a list of your mutual likes, and you can click on the “All Likes” tab to see the other things they like.

You can also look at the most popular pages by country with the drop-down menu in the top right corner of the site.  This little bit is quite interesting as it will allow companies to find out brand popularity by country.

Users will also see pages in your friends’ news feed updates and profiles.

Facebook wants to be a portal that connects consumers and brands because it can provide services or advertise to both, so its not surprising that Facebook is adding new ways to build those connections.  As Facebook grows and builds these vast databases profiling user preferences, this could prove a goldmine for Facebook as long as they are able to steer clear of privacy concerns that has already malign its reputation.