• The Wall Street Journal, Monday, September 26, 2011 12:07 PM

How's this for a marketing pitch? Facebook -- in an effort to lure small businesses and their devoted patrons -- reportedly plans to give away $10 million in free advertising. "The initiative is being launched in partnership with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Federation of Independent Business, a small-business group," The Wall Street Journal reports.

"It is intended to educate small businesses on how to promote themselves on the social-networking site, like buying display ads targeted to specific markets, but also through cost-free measures to engage more with customers." The program is expected to kick off next month, and will be spearheaded by a cross-country "road show" in participation with state and local chambers of commerce, as well as regional NFIB offices.

Google -- arguably Facebook's chief rival as the Web's official gatekeeper -- has aggressively sought to the favor of small businesses through Google Maps integrations, and various other efforts. In January, Facebook is slated to start giving away $50 per business in free advertising credits to as many as 200,000 small businesses.

Read the whole story at The Wall Street Journal »