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    Facebook Ads Have Some Competition from ThingLink [VIDEO]

    By Alissa Skelton | Mashable – Tue, Feb 21, 2012

    Iggy Pop may not need much help engaging listeners, but he's trying a cool new tactic anyway: an interactive image on his Facebook landing page. The image has embedded links to iTunes and Amazon, so users can click to purchase the singer's music.

    [More from Mashable: Facebook Profiles Accurately Predict Job Performance [STUDY]]

    ThingLink, the startup behind the embedded images, has created a new kind of Facebook advertising that competes with the social network's ads. If advertisers find ThingLink pages more effective, Facebook's revenue from advertisements could be threatened, as advertisers may opt out of purchasing Facebook's pay-per-click ads.

    Here's how ThingLink ads work: The tagged spots on an image link to other content services including social media sites like Twitter, Flickr and Linkedin, and also shopping sites such as eBay an Best Buy.

    [More from Mashable: Jeremy Lin Gets a Facebook Profile. What Took Him So Long?]

    For $5 to $20 per month, anyone can buy a ThingLink Facebook image tab. The Helsinki-based company's interactive images will increase consumer engagement on Facebook, Neil Vineberg, ThingLink's chief marketing officer, said in a statement.

    ThingLink's features are appealing to advertisers because interactive tabs are an improvement from traditional Facebook landing pages, which are created by advertisers and include an image with typically a Like button.

    “ThingLink Tabs for Facebook turns any Page into an interactive web experience that drives engagement,” Vineberg said.

    Like Iggy Pop, British comedian Steve Coogan -- via his alter ego Alan Patridge -- has an interactive ThingLink tab to promote his new book, We Need to Talk About Alan. The interactive images can be posted to all websites including blogging sites such as Tumblr and WordPress.

    Do you want more interaction with brands and celebrities on Facebook? How do you think Facebook feels about ThingLink selling interactive Facebook tabs? Tell us in the comments below.

    This story originally published on Mashable here.

     

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