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Facebook Pays Users to Watch Online Ads

Posted By Sonya Donaldson On May 9, 2011 @ 8:34 am In Blogging and Social Media,E-Commerce,Gaming,Online Marketing | 8 Comments

Facebook is experimenting with a solution for its low banner-click-throughs. Last week the company rolled out a program that essentially pays users to watch ads on the site. Users get paid in Facebook Credits, which they can now use on Facebook Deals to buy more than just virtual Farmville animals.

But users should not expect to be raking in the bucks just by clicking: according to Mashable’s Todd Wasserman [1], the payment amounts to 1 credit, or about 10 cents, per ad. Still, in this tough economy, it’s not inconceivable that some Facebook users could become super-clickers.  After all, they’ve had enough practice in games from Zynga [2], CrowdStar, and other online gaming companies, which is where the ads will primarily be placed, Wasserman notes.

While there will undoubtedly be detractors to Facebook’s new scheme, Sharethrough’s CEO Dan Greenberg sees this as step in the right direction—away from “interruptive advertising.” The question remains, though: will providing real-world cash incentives change the way users view (or not view) online advertising?

Read more from Mashable [1].


Article printed from Inc. Technology: http://technology.inc.com

URL to article: http://technology.inc.com/2011/05/09/facebook-pays-users-to-watch-online-ads/

URLs in this post:

[1] Todd Wasserman: http://mashable.com/2011/05/06/facebookfacebook-10-cents-ads/

[2] Zynga: http://www.zynga.com/

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