Facebook to Users: Sell Stuff, Get Paid

If their friends buy recommended products, they get a commission

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 13, 2008 4:31 PM CDT

(Newser) – Facebook has rolled out a new service that encourages users to recommend products to their friends and make a little money in the process, AP reports. Called Market Lodge, the program allows users to set up personal stores on their Facebook pages and hawk a variety of products from a chosen list. Merchants handle any sales, but users make a 10% commission on each.

Facebook boasts an impressive user population but has been struggling with ways to capitalize on it. The privacy backlash over a recent program named Beacon—which tracked users’ web activities for advertisers—turned into a public relations fiasco. Market Lodge developer bSocial is hoping a system in which friends recommend products to friends will feel less invasive. Facebook doesn't get a cut of the sales, at least for now.

Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg speaks to press and advertising partners at a Facebook announcement in New York in this November 6, 2007 file photo. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, file)

Market Lodge is a Facebook application that pays users for sales made from their Facebook profiles. (bSocial)

The Facebook logo is displayed at a news conference in New York in this November 6, 2007, file photo. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, file)

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Facebook to Users: Sell Stuff, Get Paid

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If their friends buy recommended products, they get a commission

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social networking • online advertising • Facebook • Beacon • Market Lodge • Internet sales

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

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More Newser Stories

Facebook Backs Off Beacon

Switches ad platform to 'opt-in' format after users decry involuntary 'sharing'

Facebook Fights Anti-Privacy Charges

Battle with MoveOn hinges on the meaning of 'private'

Google Looking to Buy Yahoo

Google wants more users for Google+, more advertising markets

Facebook Ready to Cash in On Your Data

Facebook ads mining user data like never before

Facebook Can Beat Google as 'King of the Web'

Analysis: It's got the trump cards on display advertising

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Newser By Users

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