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Facebook: Facebook Beacon
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NEW YORK — Facebook Social Advertising Event, Nov. 6, 2007 — Facebook announced today that 44 websites are using Facebook Beacon to allow users to share information from other websites for distribution to their friends on Facebook. These sites are participating in the launch of Beacon, a new way to socially distribute information on Facebook. Beacon is a core element of the Facebook Ads system for connecting businesses with users and targeting advertising to the audiences they want.
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In November 2007, Facebook launched a new part of its Ads system named Beacon that published Facebook users' activities on partner websites such as eBay, Fandango, Travelocity, and Blockbuster to their friends. Moveon.org created an online petition due to privacy concerns, and Facebook modified the service to some extent. However, privacy concerns have continued in the wake of a report by a security researcher at Computer Associates that noted that data on users' activities is often still sent to Facebook, even if a user has opted-out on the partner site and logged out of Facebook.
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In November 2007, Facebook again created a storm when it announced a new advertising system called Beacon, in which users' purchases or activities on some 40 partner sites were broadcast to their Facebook friends. Some users claimed that they were not adequately warned about the feature, and the political activist group MoveOn.org organized a protest group on Facebook, which attracted more than 70,000 members.
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Fandango, the nation’s leading moviegoer destination, is using Beacon so when Facebook users purchase a movie ticket on Fandango.com, they can share their movie plans with their friends on Facebook. Consumers gain a new way to tell their friends about their movie tastes, while Fandango is able to gain greater social distribution on Facebook.
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While applauding the changes to Beacon, Charlene Li, an analyst at Forrester Research, told the Financial Times that Facebook needs to regain the trust of users and privacy advocates. "I believe some privacy advocates will continue to agitate for the full dismantling of the Beacon program," Ms Li said.
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Facebook Beacon allows Facebook users to share information from other sites back to Facebook for distribution among their friends. For instance, when a user is on Epicurious.com or flip.com, and is ... a member of Facebook, that person will have the opportunity to share the action they've just taken on the site--such as having uploaded a recipe on Epicurious.com or having created a new flipbook on flip.com--with their friends on Facebook.
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Facebook Beacon