Hello, New Jersey... Err... Facebook!

Response to my original post, "Beware the '!,' Facebook," has been extraordinary and, to a surprisingly large extent, consistent in its agreement with my primary thesis: Facebook seems to have lost its edge and is in real danger of becoming yesterday's news.

Facebook, or Spambook (no offense, NJ)?

So, in keeping with the topic, I wanted to highlight a recent AdAge article, which focuses on Facebook's increasingly me-too-ish approach to advertising on its platform.  While I suppose it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise, given my prior observations about Facebook's stagnating service/offerings, it is eye-opening to read that the company's core business is beginning to mirror that of Yahoo!, and the generic Web, as well.  Where is the granularity?  Where is the personalization?  Where is the social graph?  Where is the innovation?

As a follow-on, there was this nugget from BTIG analyst, Richard Greenfield, who refers to Facebook as, "Spambook," in discussing the company's retargeting efforts and challenges associated with social advertising.  I couldn't have said it better myself, having just been the proud recipient of a "Suggested Post" for property in Short Hills, NJ (image on right).  God knows, I love my many friends and colleagues from New Jersey — and, for the record, their stories from childhood are among the best I've heard (Action Park, anyone?) — but I have never even given thought to buying a luxury home and moving there.  Not to make too much of this one instance, but Facebook knows enough about me to be dangerous, and if this is the best it can do, then it has significant issues.

There is obviously much more to the puzzle of Facebook's potential demise that will take time to put together; that said, the pieces to it that I keep collecting seem consistent with that of a company struggling to find its way forward.