Facebook's new 'Like' feature has just begun to alter the online advertising model and in turn moved the social network a step closer to playing seriously with Google.
As web user, you and I are already used to targeted advertising. In my every day web travels I enjoy the recommendations I receive on sites like Amazon.
It's like a having my own personal assistant who filters through junkmail or unwanted solicitators because they understand I read a lot of books about marketing or economics and couldn't care less about the next Danielle Steel book, unless I was shopping for my aunt.
In that respect the shared information model will clean up the web for each personal user. I get a bit more of what I want to see. Don't worry Steel fans, the popular stuff will always make it through just by simple advertising economics alone.
The next obvious question is 'how much will be too much?' Users hold the key to the answer. If it was up to Facebook or the advertising and media companies they'd want to know if you felt like a grilled cheese or salad for lunch...but seriously we're not that far from that becoming a reality.
If I shot a message to my friend Sally about meeting at noon couldn't I theoretically receive packaged advertising bits telling me where the best deal is in my location?
Foursquare is leading the charge with this type of interaction right now while Yelp is not doing such a great job on mobile platforms, but just wait until Facebook feels like being a geolocation assistant too, they'll simply need to flip a couple of switches.