Facebook Turns the 'Like' Into Its Newest Ad

The ubiquitous "like" is currency for brands, and Facebook is giving them a new way to collect: an ad unit that shows up on the right-hand side of the screen it calls "sponsored stories."

The unit will give brand-related action such as a "like" or a check-in a lot more visibility on Facebook by adding them to an ad unit in addition to users' news feeds. For example, if Starbucks buys a "sponsored story" ad, the status of a user's friends who check into or "like" Starbucks will run twice: once in the user's news feed, and again as a paid ad for Starbucks. Though clearly marked with the words "sponsored story," the ad -- which will includes a user's name, just like the news feed -- is not optional for Facebook users. The product itself is broken into four possible buys for advertisers -- page likes and check-ins, and actions Facebook is calling "application play" and "page posts."