After reading ad nauseam about Facebook Places and how their new service is going to do this or do that, I have reached a conclusion or two.
The first is that regardless of what the feature does for consumers, Places will become the basis of GeoTextual advertising.
Geotextual?
Since Facebook is a content display platform -not a search appliance – the best they can hope for vis-a-vis reaching an audience with relevant advertising is contextual and maybe eventually behavioral advertising.
Short of all out behavioral targeting and in order to further woo brands to its advertising platform – Facebook will need to provide additional audience coordinates through user “features” like Places.
When they do, Facebook will have content and consumer location but not their intent.
Short of consumer intent they will have to sell it as GeoTextually targeted and thus “relevant” advertising.
Whether the product as decribed materializes anytime soon remains to be seen.
Search Marketing Communications 