A few days back I was on the Wealthy Affiliate Facebook fan page and I noticed one thing that was very apparent...

Facebook has officially started to dig their own grave!

They are now trying to charge businesses to SHOW their posts to people that have already liked them. I am not sure the logic behind this, but don't people like you for a reason....because they want to see the things you have to say and your activity.

Welcome EDGERANK...

Facebook has recently revealed the true reach metrics (percentages) right within your storyline on business pages. Up until now you were in the dark as to exactly what sort of limited results the EdgeRank algorithm was having on your reach within the news feed.

EdgeRank is Facebook’s internal algorithm that determines what makes it to the News Feed by assigning a value to every story...I mean seriously if all the activity from every friend was put onto the news feed, then it would be an overwhelming experience.

This value is based on affinity, weight and time. Affinity is the relationship between the user and the page or friend that created an item. Weight is affected by the type of story, for instance, whether it is a photo upload or a comment on another person’s status.

Facebook now tells you what percentage reach you are getting. Take a look at my some of my recent posts:

Average Example

Highest Reach Example

It is quite discouraging now that the data is there as to how little reach you have as a business. An average post will lead to around 10% exposure (to the people that like you) and on the high end you will be reaching around 18% based on my data.

Facebook knows very well your exposure is limited and has aimed to monetize this through the new “Promote” feature on business pages. Now for $5, $10 or sometimes $15 you can gain additional exposure to your website.

This is OK, however should a business have to pay to connect with people that are already essentially “friending” their service and conversely, should the “users” within the system be inundated with promotions just because someone has paid for them.

First there were ads, now there are more ads. Are the users going to have to pay to remove these posts soon?

Why Facebook Might Fail and Google Won’t!

Google has it right.

Facebook HAD it right.

Google has remained so successful over the years because their focus has remained on usability over profitability. Search engines have come and gone and tried to fight for some of Google’s users, but Google was able to fend them off.

The reason? Their ongoing focus on users.

Yes they are vastly profitable business and yes they run their operations as a business, but their service is free for people that are "searching". That has been their focus over the years and by focusing on the "USERS" that drive the system, they have remained the top search engine.

I remember how peeved off people were when they found their Adwords accounts had been suspended (over 1 million people and counting). This is a testament that Google was making a decision for their users, and not the money.

The minute people stop using their search is the minute they no longer have a business. The minute Facebook starts losing users to other mediums that build for users (and not business) is the minute they will start losing the handle of their business.

Is Facebook a social network? The more I use it is beginning to feel less and less social and more and more commercial enterprise. Only time will tell...but I can assure you that we will not be paying to promote a wall post any time soon.

The grave may be dug one shovelful at a time.