Facebook has just launched a new scheme that will actually pay users to watch certain ads on their site.
The payment will be in the form of Facebook credits. Each of the selected ads watched by a user will entitle the user to one credit. One credit is equivalent to 10 cents. These credits can later be redeemed to purchase goods from the real world.
This has been made possible after the social network introduced Facebook Deals, which is similar to Groupon’s daily deals. Earlier, users could make use of their credits only to buy virtual goods such as virtual games.
At present, game publishers such as CrowdStar, Zynga, and Digital Chocolate have tied up with Facebook for this new payment scheme. Facebook is reportedly in talks with others such as Sharethrough, SocialVibe, Epic Media and SupersonicAds to sign up for this new offering as well.
They are also trying to forge a similar deal with TrialPay, which will provide additional analytics for advertisers.
So far, Facebook has suffered a low click-through rate for their ads and this new incentive should help to change that situation in the near future.
According to Dan Greenberg, CEO of Sharethrough, which is one of the companies that has already signed up for the new service, this move is “a step away from interruptive advertising”.
Greenberg claims that his company will not just provide advertising in the traditional meaning of the term, but rather it will be in the form of branded entertainment, which users will not only be interested in seeing themselves but will also want to share with their friends.
