DIGG
Today Digg.com announced Digg Ads, an online advertisement platform which encourages user engagement with advertisements similar to the traditional user interaction of digging interesting news articles. However, this time the stakes are higher.
Advertisements are placed in a user’s stream of news. Users will be able to “Digg” ads they enjoy, or “Bury” ads that aren’t to their liking. The result of this interaction will be variable pricing for advertisers. The more appealing an ad is to the Digg community, the less one will have to pay for placement. Theoretically, this will organically lead to the most effective ads being displayed on the site.
This will also leave the potential for Digg to build robust user profiles of their users based on stories dugg and now advertisement interaction. Imagine if as an advertiser you could push ads to only people who have dugg 20+ Retail Advertisements.
It will be interesting to see how well this model works… Digg is already criticized for bury brigades which have the potential to manipulate the site’s content. Perhaps companies would find it economical to have interns continuously bury competitors ads, placing them out of the market. I’m sure safeguards will be put in place to mitigate this effect, but initial implementation will affect long-term stability.
The effect of this model is Digg is giving incentive to advertisers to create campaigns that stimulate the Digg community.
FACEBOOK
Facebook Ad Example
I don’t believe this was an official announcement, but Facebook is effectively bribing their users to engage with their advertisements. In the provided screenshot, Facebook sweetened the pot of a sponsored gift with an additional Facebook Credit.
Facebook’s recent “Pay with Facebook” implementation has highlighed the intent of Facebook to increase their credit payment system. This is yet another tool aimed at introducing users to the idea of Facebook Credits.
Facebook has a real opportunity to become (and in fact is quickly becoming) the Online Identification of users. Therefore their goal to increase usage through distributing small amounts of credits to active users makes sense, but further highlights that advertisements are not the end game for facebook.
While Digg’s approach will lead advertisers to understand what works and what doesn’t, Facebook’s approach will help them to gain a critical mass for a second form of monetization, one that is perhaps more interesting, owning the online identification of everyday people.
A world in which users are able to click “Connect” and instantaneously have access to major aspects of their lives, relationships and money, is a future that facebook is racing to create.
-ƒrankie
