New Facebook Profile pages – what are the Facebook profile changes and what are the implications for Facebook advertisers?

Facebook unleashed its new profile page this week. With Facebook being the most popular website in the world, the Facebook profile page is arguably one of the most important web page designs ever, so any changes don’t come lightly. Facebook’s culture has never been to sit back and stick with what’s already working as any Facebook user will know, so what are the changes this time?

The New Facebook Profile Changes

• Quick Overview – At the top of the profile page there is now a condensed paragraph of information which includes where you’ve studied, where you live / hometown, where you work etc.

• Info Tab – The text links have now been replaced by pictures wherever possible. There are also  various new options such as what sports you play, your favourite teams, favourite athletes, people who inspire you and more.

• Photos – There is now infinite scrolling on images so they automatically load as you scroll down the page. Also there’s a row of recently tagged pictures at the top of the profile making it simple for people to see what you have been up to recently.

• Navigation – The previous navigation options have moved to under the main profile picture.

• Friends List – This now takes up the left hand side of the profile page and offers you the ability to produce lists of friends.

How do the new Facebook changes affect Facebook advertisers?

What these changes will mean, is that the amount of information that is fed into the Facebook knowledge banks about a person will increase. This in turn means that Facebook advertising will change and there will be a lot more ways to target adverts to Facebook users (such as the new information options in the info tab as explained earlier eg your favourite sports teams).

When you adopt use of the new profile, there is an introduction to how the new profile works. It then unashamedly offers you the chance to update the information on your profile / add in new ways for Facebook advertising users to target you.

The adverts are also much more prominent when looking at a profile page. They now take up the whole of the right hand side of the screen. This should lead to more clicks as there is more space for more adverts.

Many will label these new updates as monetization changes, and whilst they can be seen as this, Facebook are blending monetization with bettering the user experience as only they know how. Let me know how you find the new Facebook profile, and whether you think it’s good for business or not!