Thinking about advertising on social networking sites? Think again.

According to this article on time.com (http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1888796,00.html) the use of social networking sites as an advertising avenue may not be as effective as we consumer, apparel and retail students may have thought. The article highlights the issue that although social networking sites such as Facebook, Google and Youtube have millions upon millions of users and viewers, their ability to make money is lacking a great deal. It sites the reasoning for this lack of profits to the nontraditional model of social networking sites. They don't follow the same rules that engaged so many mareketers to the internet. Advertising on the internet consists of targeting specific groups, but that is not easy to achieve on websites like Facebook. Facebook is filled with millions of users who may or may not be exactly who they say they are, and although different advertisements may appear on your homepage depending on what you have listed as interests and activities on your profile, overall the website is far too unorderly. Why waste your time advertising to a group you can't identify when you could go directly to them from another website? It makes sense, and is something we should all think about when discussing marketing trends. The internet can be so ambigious, you never really know exactly what or who you're targeting or talking to, and for big time ad agencies and companies, this is a risk not worth taking.