New type of advertising online? Just for Social media?

This week’s announcement of a partnership between Microsoft and Facebook was exciting. Not only was big cash being thrown around ($250 million), but there is talk of a new type of advertising online.

Advertising Age is reporting:

The invitation, sent to advertisers and agencies in New York, arrived carved onto a Lucite brick:

“You are invited to a discussion with Mark Zuckerberg and the Facebook executive team as we unveil a new way of advertising online.”

Facebook is keeping mum about exactly what it is unveiling at the Nov. 6 event, but ad-industry executives familiar with the company’s plans said the social network is looking to better use the data its users voluntarily offer up on their profiles. Of course, that much seems like a no-brainer (although it’s actually not easy to implement). But less obviously, a couple of industry executives familiar with the company’s plans suggest Facebook could use some of what it knows about people — and their relationships with others on the site, what is known as the “social graph” — to target them off Facebook as well.

See http://adage.com/digital/article.php?article_id=121440