Who is Playfish? They’re the largest maker of social games. Their products for Facebook, MySpace and the iPhone are among the most popular apps for their platforms.

EA has added incentives to the deal based on performance which means that eventually this deal could be worth a cool $400 million.

EA has already experimented with incorporating ads into their games and have had some success. It’s not hard to imagine the company leveraging their new acquisition and the amount of data it can gather from users to begin a new micro-targeted ad program.

Whether this venture succeeds or fails is really dependent on one thing: the games.

As long as EA can maintain and improve the qualities that make Playfish games so addictive and popular in the social/iPhone space the company will be able to chalk this one up in the “success” column.

First was Amazon’s announcement that it was partnering with Twitter to allow members of its Amazon Associates service to send out tweets of Amazon products complete with ad copy. Amazon gets increased exposure for its products and it splits the revenue from sales to its Associates members.

On the Google front the company has updated its Google Friend Connect service to include a short profile users can fill out. The service will then try to connect you with users who visit the same sites you do and recommend sites based on your interests.

These two developments could be where social networking is heading in terms of revenue models. Ads and ad revenue are heavily tied into both of these services which are playing catch up with Facebook’s wildly successful Facebook Connect feature.

In fact Connect is credited with having more than doubled Facebook’s audience in the year since it launched. Taking the social networking giant from 120 million worldwide users to 300 million and counting since its launch.

The main draw for marketers to these social networking sites is of course the wealth of demographic, ethnographic and geographic data that is shared voluntarily by its users. The amount of market research data that social network site users share in a day is staggering and these sites are finding new ways to tap into that data and use it to sell micro targeted ads.

Much like search ads, these new micro targeted ads stand to be much more effective than banner or pop up ads and could in fact become the most lucrative form of advertising in a very short time. By using their ‘Connect’ services users will be handing over even more information that marketers can then interpret and use to sell things.

The privacy implications of these services deserve a blog post in their own right but there is no denying that Facebook, Google and Twitter are positioning themselves to overtake mainstream media as the main providers of consumer data.

And the main targets of their ad budgets too.

The benefit for Facebook and Twitter is that both companies raise their already prominent profiles and spread their massive amounts of user-generated content even further into the mainstream. Facebook also gains a way to search through its News Feed, something it has been lacking.

Bing, besides beating Google to the punch and generating press for itself, gets to further enhance its image as a reliable, comprehensive search engine that deserves to be compared to market-dominating Google.

Twitter already has a powerful search engine built into its web site. Anyone can easily search through Twitter’s timeline to find what they’re looking for. A quick tutorial and even a novice can learn how to refine their searches.

Facebook lacks a search feature for their News Feed but there really isn’t a clamoring for one to be implemented either. Unlike Twitter, Facebook is seen more as a way to communicate with people you already know in your offline life and keeping in touch as opposed to a rich source of information.

What Bing is providing is  a service that is lacking on Facebook but isn’t really being demanded (and may even face a backlash from Facebook’s vocal users who prize their privacy. See: Beacon) and a more mainstream solution for those who want to search Twitter.

What will be important and key to the success of this venture is how those search results crop up. Will they be a side bar to Bing’s web search results? A separate link or tab? Will they update in real time? Or will they be mixed in with the web results?

I doubt that Bing will go with the latter route mainly because it would be the surest path to a backlash. It’s hard to imagine many people searching for “car prices” being happy with Twitter and Facebook posts complaining about their car payments dominating the results.

My inclination is to categorize this latest development as inconsequential to the average consumer but extremely important for Facebook and Twitter. The main reason being it further helps their chances at generating ad revenue. By tying their services into the lucrative business of search advertising both social networks can take another step in silencing those who continue to view them as a fad or companies incapable of monetizing their services.

If Bing can drive more traffic to its site from all the press this will generate and retain at least some of the curious who check it out then it also stands to make a significant amount of money from this venture. Having tried Bing myself I can say that while I am not ready to leave Google yet I can see enormous potential for Bing to become a serious competitor and introduce some new standards for search.

This is definitely a development to watch as we could either be seeing the rise of social networks as major revenue generators on par with other Silicon Valley players or the final proof that search advertising is simply not a viable model for them. Either way the next few months will mark a milestone for social networking and its fight for corporate America’s ad dollars.

Perhaps the most well-known example is Sony’s attempt to connect with its hip, young consumers by launching a blog, alliwantforxmasisapsp.com, that featured two teenagers voicing their pleas to their parents for a PSP.

Except the two “teenagers” were really Sony employees. And Sony never disclosed (until it was too late) that it was behind the bogus blog. All of that is bad enough and maybe would not have been a big deal or become a cautionary tale if it had not been for Sony’s and their ad agency’s (Zipatoni) tin-eared impressions of a teenage male circa 2006.

Allow me to share with you now Sony’s impression of its core consumers when confronted about its fake blog. “Charlie” responds: “yo where all u hatas com from… juz cuz you aint feelin the flow of PSP dun mean its sum mad faek website or summ… youall be trippin.”

Imagine for a moment that you are a multinational, billion-dollar household electronics giant. Is this quote really something you would ever want attributed to you or your employees while representing you in an official capacity? Sony’s intent is all too easy to spot of course.

During social media’s first steps into the public consciousness most companies brought old marketing strategies to a brand new medium. In Sony’s case it’s all too easy to see how they thought they might have the next “Dude, you’re getting a Dell” guy on their hands. In reality web 2.0 users have no interest in or patience for these kinds of gimmicks.

So what is a business to do? Tell the truth, plain and simple. Don’t try to hide your involvement with a blog or other form of social marketing. Disguising your role in a campaign or representing a campaign as a fan-generated “movement” can backfire spectacularly. Those who have succeeded by crafting viral marketing that at first glance seems independent of a product have done so by tying it into what’s called an “alternate reality” where there can be little question that the website or promotion is spearheaded by a corporation but kept active by everyday users. Recent examples include the viral marketing campaigns behind the movies “The Dark Knight” and “Cloverfield.” Of course, these are entertainment properties where consumers are already expected to check reality at the door. A product such as Skittles or Coke would have a much harder time pulling off something similar without incurring the wrath of the internet for misrepresentation.

It’s also important to extend that policy to your employees. Today anyone can have a Facebook page, Twitter account and a blog that can be promoted on either. As a company you cannot expect to censor your employees’ Facebook profiles or Twitter accounts but you can provide them with a set of guidelines when they comment on either your company or your competitors:

1. When addressing an issue that is related, in any way, to your company’s market sector or products make sure you first disclose who you work for. Also when commenting about one of your company’s competitors, large or small, disclose who your employer is.

2. If you are going to review a product from a competitor or your own company again make sure you disclose your association.

3. If asked for consumer advice or technical support you should refer the person inquiring to an impartial reviewer or your company’s technical support page. If you choose to give consumer shopping advice again be sure to disclose your role as an employee and that your advice is your own opinion and that you are not acting as an official representative for the company. Follow the same steps if dispensing technical advice (although it’s probably better if you don’t engage in the latter).

4. Do not engage in “flame wars” with other commenters or bloggers on issues related to your company’s products or services. In this case even if you stress that you’re not acting as a company representative your behavior can hurt your company’s image.

5. Do not discuss internal matters on your social media accounts. This one’s a no-brainer but it should still be a part of your social media employee guidelines. Personnel should be strongly discouraged from tweeting, blogging or posting Facebook status updates about office gossip, conflicts and, more importantly, official company policies and  discussions.

6. Always remember: just as in your private, offline life your actions on the web can reflect on your company. This guideline is not meant to censor but to remind your employees that they represent your company at all times and should act in accordance with your company’s standards of ethics and behavior.

Transparency is the new golden rule of marketing in social media. Practice this standard and encourage your employees to follow suit to avoid potentially embarrassing situations.

“Facebook hasn’t even made any money yet. How are you going to make money off of something that doesn’t make money for itself to begin with?”

This backwards logic is common and needs to be addressed. Facebook has announced that for the first time last quarter the company turned a profit. But even if it hadn’t, so what?

E-mail doesn’t make money for itself, and yet e-mail marketing has been proven effective, time and again. Search does not generate revenue for itself and yet Google has become a behemoth on par with Microsoft through its advertising program.

Some would counter that banner and search ads don’t work, that nobody clicks on them. And yet someone must otherwise Google’s IPO would have been a spectacular failure and the company would not have competed with Microsoft to take over Yahoo!

Facebook has long been looked at by those in the advertising community as a fad not the ubiquitous communications hub that it has become. At least part of this is born out of fear and frustration; fear that the old way of doing things is changing or disappearing (both true and false) and frustration with a tool that they do not understand. Condescension is rampant.

As a business owner you cannot fall prey to these misguided notions. For starters, Facebook’s financials are of no concern to you, they do not and will never affect your bottom line. What is of concern to your company and your bottom line is that Facebook is home to 300 million users, half of whom check the site daily. Take that in for a moment: 150 million people log in to Facebook every day!

Twitter is also on the rise and while the chatter right now is focusing on how it can challenge Facebook the truth is people will not abandon their Facebook profiles for Twitter’s updates. Most will use both with each providing its own unique communications opportunities. Opportunities that should be exploited by your business.

Just like Radio, Television and the Internet before them social media networks are not going to go away. The sheer volume of demographic information they provide is far too valuable to marketers and businesses to simply sit by and wait until these ‘fads’ pass. Because they will not pass. When a service reaches the critical mass that Facebook and Twitter have the notion that one day people will suddenly stop logging on is ridiculous.

Services may evolve, disappear or become marginalized by newer, bigger players but the concept of social networking itself will not disappear. It’s time to accept that this ‘fad’  is actually the new norm.