Facebook has announced modifications to their advertising initiatives, along with new privacy tools, which serve to protect the exploitation of user’s profile information.

Facebook users now have the option of tailoring exactly who in their network has access to sensitive profile information, including phone numbers and photos.

The social network has also, finally, responded to complaints stemming from the controversial SocialAds program. With SocialAds, marketers create Facebook pages/profiles which users can ‘befriend’; when a user becomes friends with a marketer’s page, the action is broadcast to the user’s network via RSS news feeds.

Facebook also gives marketers the ability to purchase profile information, which is used to target ads based on respective users’ interests or location.

Facebook initially promoted the integration of SocialAds with the justification that, “SocialAds make advertisements more interesting and more tailored to you are your friends.” I agree that I would rather see a Nieman Markus ad over an ad for the latest John Deere lawn mower, but the thought of all my friends seeing what products I’m a fan of is just plain creepy.

Facebook has also recently responded to complaints over the ad program Beacon. Beacon tracks, and then broadcasts, Facebook users’ third-party online purchases, at sites such as ebay.com, or Blockbuster.com.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has publicly backed down on the Beacon advertising program, admitting, “we’ve made a lot of mistakes building this feature, but we’ve made even more with how we’ve handled them…We simply did a bad job with this release, and I apologize for it.”

Facebook now requires Facebookers to ‘opt-in’ before Beacon can share a user’s purchase activity, and the respective advertisements, with friends.

The fact that Facebook monetizes user’s profile information has been a hot topic in the press, and Facebook has been aiming to find a happy medium between monetizing of ad space (and information for targeting ads) and enhancing users’ privacy.

Part of Facebook’s move to grant “higher priority to user privacy over monetization,” is a new privacy tool that allows users to decide who can view their photos. Additionally, if a user only wants a sub-group within their network (ie; everyone that’s not my biology Professor) to access a particular photo album (ie; spring break in Aruba), they can appoint access solely to that group.

So, Facebook seems to be heading in the right direction in terms of cleaning up the “exploitation of user information” mess that has escalated since the 2006 launch of the RSS news feeds debacle, which inform members of changes to their friends’ profiles (ie; Jimmy and Caitlin’s relationship is ‘complicated’…again?).

Now, let’s see if MySpace can reduce the mêlée of flashy, bright, and obnoxious banners ads that give me a head-ache every time I log-in. Hmm, great place for a Motrin ad.

By Tessa Rudd, Strategic Partnerships Coordinator - Advertising Media Division

As Chitika’s network has successfully pioneered into the blogosphere, I was intrigued to learn our network’s thoughts on micro-blogging, or furthermore, on the ‘Twitosphere’, and the future of mobile blogging.

In a recent survey, 50% of Chitika’s network reported that they currently use Twitter to communicate with their social network.

Read more about mobile marketing and Twitter in Chitika | Pulse XI…

By Tessa Rudd, Strategic Partnerships Coordinator - Advertising Media Division

Helio – youth-oriented mobile carrier – has announced a partnership with mobile site provider Buzzd to launch a new local nightlife search site. Helio’s new service will offer a mobile Web site (linked from the home page of the carrier’s browser) allowing users to search for bars, clubs, and restaurants in major cities.

Data queried in Helio’s new search will come from current Buzzd partners, specializing in event/entertainment information services, including Flavorpill, TimeOut, and Citysearch.

The service, which will be ad-supported, will also bundle-in real-time “event feeds” with night-specific deals and pricing for respective hot-spots; updates will range from how long lines are to the current mood of the bouncer. Think informational social networking (ie; “the hostess told me one hour…and it’s been like threeeee!)

Currently the service requires users to provide location or street intersection. Helio, however, is looking to pull GPS into the mix, since Helio handsets are already equipped with the technology. Then bar-hoppers wont have to know their actual point-A vicinity (as some, peculiarly, do not) to be directed to point-B.

As location-based mobile services are becoming more accessible and widely-used, I expect this new Buzzd powered service will be a hit among Helio’s youth oriented demographic (ie; those who adore all of the elements outlined above; cellular devices, social networking, night-life).

Chitika has already added real-time mobile technology into our mix; and plan to venture further in the mobile arena soon!

What do you think about location-based mobile services?

By Tessa Rudd, Strategic Partnerships Coordinator - Advertising Media Division

Exciting, challenging, and fun!

We believe in the “Work (not Hard but) Smart and Play Hard” mantra. Our head quarters, also fondly known as the Chitika Village, is located in the Marlborough Technology Park, a campus like environment with 85 acres of park filled with water fountains, pools, and spacious offices. Our offices are filled with pool, air hockey, and foosball tables, Ninetendo Wii, in house movie projector, fitness balls and tons of other fun stuff. Don’t be surprised if you see a penguin wearing sun glasses greating visitors! We also don’t hesistate to take the time off to organize and have fun at company parties, picnics, outings, games, movies …

Read more

Familiar with Chitika’s product categories? There are 44 different categories you can choose from that make your life easier when customizing your eMiniMalls code. When you choose one of these categories your eMiniMalls will automatically display products from that category.

Now our “Seasonal Specials” category is updated with some great gifts for Valentines Day for both men and women. You have 17 days till Valentine’s Day to promote some great gift ideas to your visitors; all you have to do is:

1. Login to your Chitika account.
2. Click the “eMiniMalls Code” tab
3. Select the “Seasonal Specials-Valentines Day” category and copy your code!

Check out the latest Chitika coverage in the Wall Street Journal. Columnist Kelly Spors explains that she has, “talked with several publishers making so much money from their blogs that they left their day jobs.” In her article, “Bloggers Get Creative to Make Dough,” Spors credits this to new tools and services bloggers can utilize to earn money from online traffic to their blogs. Read more and respond to her post with your own blogging success story!

-By Tessa Rudd, Account Executive - Advertising Media Division

The reason a lawyer dresses in a suit everyday is the same reason the average high school student doesn’t; it would be strange if it were not so.

Appearance may mean more to someone than the next person. Some people prefer simplicity because it’s the only way they get things done. The same principle holds true for all our 18,000 publishers who need eMiniMalls to cater to their website needs in different ways.

What we want to know is, what are the most important features your website or blog requires from your Chitika ad units?

Did we miss something? Let us know, comments are open!

I’m guilty of two things: last minute holiday shopping & comparing prices. As I walked into my third mall of the day yesterday I realized it had taken hours to find the same product at different prices, when instead I could’ve searched for it in an eMiniMalls unit & seen the different deals in seconds. Which is why I want to show you how neat a Chitika | eMiniMalls unit truly is.

One thing in the back of my mind while shopping is, “I wonder if there’s a better deal elsewhere?“. This is a comparison shopping thought that eMiniMalls can answer for you because an eMiniMalls unit is packed with millions of products including about 25,000 different brands.

Most ad units include a link to only one item with usually only one place to purchase it, and on top of that you have to view it on another page which takes your visitor away from your website. An eMiniMalls unit gives your visitor the chance to view descriptions & multiple purchasing choices for up to 4 products in the unit itself!

Searching for products here will refresh your unit with more products - NOT take you to another page:

Chitika | eMiniMalls ad units are not only a must-have for holiday shopping on your website or blog, but an informative tool that your visitors can benefit from year-round.

Sign up for eMiniMalls today!
Learn more about this new way of shopping with eMiniMalls.

We often receive questions from publishers asking if the label or header above their eMiniMalls unit is acceptable. One question you should ask yourself is, “Am I asking my readers to click on this, or am I simply providing a source for product information?”

Let’s say, for example, techie-blogger Jimmy took a trip to California to visit his family for the Thanksgiving holiday and realized that, although he forgot to pack his laptop, his new Apple iPhone allows him to still check his email and keep up with his blog.

Well, Jimmy could then decide to write a blog post about his new-found appreciation for his iPhone followed by an eMiniMalls unit; this to me is called “passionate product endorsement”. This would be a great way to incorporate Chitika | eMiniMalls with his personal experience in a way his readers could enjoy. What would not be acceptable is an article about the iPhone followed by an eMiniMalls unit at the end, with a header saying “Click here for deals on the Apple iPhone”. This sounds more like blatant product promotion.

There are many different & acceptable approaches publishers can take to displaying an ad on their pages. This user wrote a review followed by a box labeled: “Advertisement”:

This is an acceptable way of labeling your eMiniMalls ad unit - this user is not asking or “incentivising” clicks on the ad in any way.

Publishers should use different methods to labeling their ad space because no one way works for everyone. So what has worked and not worked for you?

I decided it would be interesting to find out what size ad units were used most among our 16,000 publisher network.

According to the chart below the 3 most popular eMiniMalls units are the: 468×180 MPU (Multi-Product Unit), 728×90 Leaderboard & 468×60 MPU.

There are lots of formats to choose from between the Single-Product eMiniMalls unit and the MPU? Which ones are the most effective for you?