Companies advertise everywhere! While there are a select few ads that make people talk, such as the iPod (what is the name of that song?) and Geico commercials, a majority of ads are just plain obnoxious. With all the buzz about social networks, however, advertisers are picking up on new ways to increase their sales.

The article Beyond Clicks: Measuring Effects of Social Net Ads uses MySpace as a prime example of social network marketing. There are always the flashing advertisements, but these are seen all over the web. Instead, companies such as Adidas have their own profile on MySpace in which people can “friend.” This idea alone will be of benefit to the companies which are already popular. People, especially kids and teenagers, want to associate with brands that are considered cool. Even more, users are allowed to download wallpapers and are provided incentives such as discounts and event invitations. Advertising in this way not only helps companies make more money, but the social networking site can cash in too. On the down-side though, some companies will be more successful with this than others, which might hurt those other less successful companies in the end.

Some important aspects that are available for the public to see are the statistics that show how many friends a brand has, how many videos were viewed, etc. There doesn’t seem to be a preferred way to evaluate this type of advertising yet, because according to Heidi Browning, they “don’t want to pigeonhole friends as the new click-through rate.” This is just the beginning of a new method of advertisement, and if companies can pinpoint social networks with specific audiences who might take interest in their products, there can be many benefits.