New platform creates new opportunities for monetization. Facebook example demonstrates that. Having seen amazing growth in sign-ups, Zuckerberg and team are  announcing their big plans around social advertisement. Underlying relationship data (aka social graph) is a compelling input to make ad-targeting precise and relevant.

Erik Schonfeld is live blogging Facebook announcement:

People influence people. Nothing influences people more than are recommendation from a trusted friend. A trusted referral influences people more than the best broadcast message. A trusted referral is the Holy Grail of advertising.

Why social ads are important? I would highly recommend you to read this post by Om to understand why social ads are a big deal. Google has lot to loose in this battle:

And then along comes Mark Zuckerberg with his fun little social network, Facebook. The network keeps growing and has millions of users. Most of them are college students, (looking to hook-up) and the information is kept private – only Facebook knows everything they are doing. Google’s spiders are rebuffed and sent away. Then Facebook announces a new strategy and millions rush into this private club, sharing their likes, dislikes and everything in between. And still, Google is kept out. It’s a scary proposition for a company whose very existence depends on open access to all information.

In the end user wins. If Google removed unnecessary clutter by downplaying banner ads, then Social Ads can take keyword model to next level by harnessing social graph.