Facebook Places finally provides a real benefit for business

I have been a bear on Facebook in the past for various reasons. Low click through rates as the average user is spending 30 minutes on average (versus <30 seconds per visit time on Google) means Facebook doesn’t convert as fast. Branding aside, Facebook are generating $1 per user in sales (500M users, $500m in sales) and Google crushes them by a factor of 50x in respect to profit. BUT…..

The famous but…. the Facebook Places and Check in is very interesting as it allows mobile phone users to”check in” via Facebook Places and then advertisers can offer local deals based on location. It happened to me at Macy’s in Palo Alto the other day. Now that has value!

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