Yes, this is the title of a Shins song, but it’s also very appropriate for addressing the on-going debate on whether or not advertising on social network sites are getting too close and personal. Facebook is soon to unveil an ad model that will show ads to users on/off site based on their profiles, social connections and recent friend activities. Some are saying that this mode of advertising is going to require great amounts of transparency to consumers so they don’t think it’s creepy. Hmm.

Not sure if ‘creepy’ is the right word to describe targeted ads. Intrusive and unwelcomed, maybe, but not creepy. Things like Google’s keyword-specific search ads and sponsoring links on gmail have already desensitized the public to the mining of personal info/email content. So although the details of Facebook’s SocialAds have not yet been released, I doubt it would be any more ‘creepy’ or shocking than what’s already been happening. Plus, personal info mining done on behalf of a networking site will require user permission anyway. For those who do consider their information highly private, they can put privacy settings on high and choose to ‘opt-out’ of profiling. As for those who willingly submit and display personal preferences/info for all to see, I doubt they would care if a 3rd party took a look at their info and sent some targeted advertising their way.

Think about Amazon.com and how it makes tailored product recommendations. For instance, the site recommends books of high interest to me by tracking my previous searches and purchase histories. As a result, the site exposes me to things I would not have found on my own. It’s Amazon’s way of telling me, the consumer, “Hey, I care about what you like (and I want your business). Here’s some recommendations.”

Targeted advertising can be a wonderful thing because it’s bringing an element of personalization to the virtual realm. The challenge will be to advertise in a manner that won’t be pushy/invasive, but it can be done. Just learn from real-life salespeople. Take my good friend for example, who works in sales at Missoni. Give him 10 minutes with a client and he can easily, and non-intrusively, find out: what he/she does for a living, what the spouse does for a living, name of their dog, favorite restaurant, neighborhood of residence and other various personal details. And his clients love him!

Behaviorally-targeted ads on social networks are simply taking techniques of salesmen and applying it to the digital realm. To sum it all up, I quote a street vendor in Istanbul who engaged customers with the following line: “Let me help you spend your money.” Don’t know how you’d react, but hearing that certainly brought a smile to my face and made me think: “Well then, why not?!”

** For some articles on behavioral targeting, click here.