Online Ads, Social Networking | featured news

ComScore and Nielsen are introducing rating systems for Facebook, to help advertisers better compare the social-networking site to traditional advertising outlets such as TV and print.

Facebook users' personal information could have been accidentally leaked to third parties, in particular advertisers, over the past few years, according to Symantec Corp's official web blog.

Facebook is so large that it now accounts for about one out of every three ad impressions in the U.S., according to the latest statistics from comScore Ad Metrix. In the first quarter of 2011, comScore estimates that 1.1 trillion ads were served to U.S. Internet users, and 346 billion of those (or 31 percent) were on Facebook.

Twitter is now selling its "Promoted Tweets" for $100,000, according to an article in this morning's Wall St. Journal. "Promoted Tweets," which allow companies to buy the top spot on Twitter's Search results page, is just one of the microblogging network's new advertising initiatives as of late. The idea behind these digital ads is that the service allows companies to associate themselves with a certain trend or keyword.

Twitter this week began testing a new type of advertising: “Promoted Trends.” Under the new system, brands can pay to appear below the “Trending Topics,” the most talked-about terms on Twitter at any given moment.

Ads will be rolled out to two to 10 percent of users via search on Twitter.com beginning today.

Digg took a big risk when they added in-line advertisements that users could digg or bury. Four months later, however, early signs indicate that DiggAds are a win for all parties involved: users, advertisers, and especially Digg.

It seems as though Twitter is finally ready to get down to business. Following search deals with Microsoft and Google that put the company at break even for 2009 and the recent hiring of a CFO, Twitter is now said to be readying the launch of its long-rumored ad platform.

Kim Kardashian, Soulja Boy and Lauren Conrad reportedly bank big bucks tweeting. In an effort to drive unemployed people totally insane, The Daily Beast compiled a list of how much celebrities get paid to Tweet. We already told you that Kim Kardashian makes at least $10,000 every time she tweets about a company. And let me refresh your memory: You were majorly bummed out about it.

The Twitter phenomenon, in which anybody can tell his or her followers anything -- in 140 characters or less -- now has a payoff that can go beyond the thrill of self-publishing.