Just wrote this on my blog, figured i'd copy over First of all–why do Facebook and Google care so much to canvas the web with little buttons to encourage users

Just wrote this on my blog, figured i'd copy over First of all–why do Facebook and Google care so much to canvas the web with little buttons to encourage users to share content? In fact–why do they care if users share content at all? Are they really that loving of the human race that they are doing so solely for our benefit? Of course not. A little background: - Facebook and Google know an inordinate amount of data about you - they track, store, and interpret every move you make through their services with the goal of figuring out who you are, mainly to sell to you. - But this wasn't enough, so Facebook introduced the Like button and Google +1. Now Facebook and Google can track your every move on the web - regardless of whether you interact with the button. Companies claim they delete this data, but only after they fully interpret it or extrapolate it into descriptive data. - The problem that Facebook and Google still face however - is that they collect massive amounts of data–but have a heck of a time monetizing it–because they essentially spied to get it in the first place. So what is the solution? Well, if the user actively shares the content–especially in a public realm but also privately, that user has consciously connected themselves to that content and monetization becomes easy. (This is why Gmail ads are creepy, but discounts from Foursquare checkins are welcome) more analysis here: http://knowit.posterous.com/google-a-reaction http://knowit.posterous.com/google-a-reaction