So many people complain about online advertising.  It gets in the way, it is overbearing, it is irrelevant, it never leads to ‘valid’ websites, there is too much of it!  And really trully honestly I agree.  However, Facebook has done an outstanding job, in my opinion, of making the advertising on their site not only bearable, but to a point where it enhances my Facebook experience.

Let me first tell you a little bit about how the advertising campaigns on Facebook work.  Anyone can advertise on Facebook, and it is cheap.  You can set up an ad to link to your website and pay either by click or by impression.  An average click costs about $0.50, while an average impression will cost $0.21.  But the key part of advertising on Facebook that makes it so great is its ability to target an audience for your ad so specificially.

Precisely target by age, gender, location, and more. ~ [Facebook.com advertising page](http://www.facebook.com/advertising/)

Let me give you an example.  About a month ago, I was online using Facebook when I saw an ad on the side that read something of the sort: “You like Nickel Creek? Check out Jenny and Tyler!”.  Well yeah, I love Nickel Creek, they are my all-time favorite band, so I thought I would check out Jenny and Tyler.  They were great, I ended up buying their album on iTunes.

How does Facebook target me so precisely though?  Well, this is where some people would cry ethical outrage.  Those that use Facebook know that you put in information like your favorite music, tv shows, movies, books, where you work, how old you are, and other such personally revealing information.  Well Facebook takes a look at the available ads and places ones that are relevant to you on your page.  One’s that you personally are more likely to click on.  I had Nickel Creek listed in my favorite music, so when the marketing guy for Jenny and Tyler created the ad, he selected to target Facebook users that like Nickel Creek, make sense?

Now, me personally, I am fine with Facebook’s bots knowing information about me and using it to put relevant advertisements on my page.  I do not post any personal inforation on Facebook that I would not want many people to see.  I enjoy looking at the advertisements, seeing what types of computer coding competitions there are out there, or seeing scuba gear listed.  And I have even found that 9 out of 10 times, the site it links to is actually valid, and not some pyramid scheme.  You can even give the Facbeook ads a thumbs up or thumbs down and quickly say why you did so, whether you are giving thumbs down because you find the ad offensive, misleading, irrelevant or you gave thumbs up because you found the ad very relevant, interesting or the such.  If I give those ratings, I am better targeted for advertising, and I might be able to find sites or information that I really can use.

Whew… never thought I’d give a rant pro-online ads.  I just felt the need to applaud Facebook’s advertising team.  Job well done, you have at least one very satisfied customer.