Will Ads Make You Unfriend Facebook?

By Alex Greenwood

Will Facebook’s foray into fifteen-second ads be the “beginning of the end” for the social media behemoth?

The Kansas City Fox affiliate interviewed me about it (click here for video):

Sure, Facebook would “gain” millions…possibly billions from the ads. But how many members might Facebook “lose”?

“Myspace did it back 2008. They made a 3-year deal with Google for about $900,000,000 and the long-term effect of that was disastrous.” Social media consultant Alex Greenwood said.

People fled Myspace in droves looking for something simpler. Greenwood said the same thing could happen to Facebook, especially considering the new ads could eventually cost Facebook members’ money.

“If you use your smartphone to access your Facebook page, you’re going to have to use your data plan to get in there,” Greenwood said.

Although Greenwood said there isn’t currently a site similar enough for users to flock to this time, the next best thing is always around the corner. Facebook has yet to go public with the plans, or comment on when it plans to test the ad spots.

I wonder about business pages on Facebook. For example, what structures will be in place to make sure a Ford ad doesn’t show up on a Chevy page? Or does that matter to Facebook?

I think this signals an attempt to goose value (and therefore up the stock price) by adding some quick cash to the bottom line. I’m not sure it’s a good idea longterm, but I won’t commit fully to saying it’s the beginning of the end. Let’s hope they handle the roll-out better than Netflix did with their massive change in service and pricing a while back.

There’s plenty to watch here. I did an unscientific snap poll of ten friends (via text–not Facebook) asking if their Facebook usage would change if the ads were enacted. All said they would either drastically reduce or even end their Facebook usage. Of course, as mentioned in the Fox 4 piece, there aren’t a lot of viable social media options to jump to just yet.

It will be interesting to see if users will make their voices heard at first, but eventually decide to endure the ads as a “cost of doing business” on Facebook. I suspect that’s what Facebook is counting on.

What do you think? Please comment below–and don’t forget we’re on Facebook, too.