• Inside Facebook, Wednesday, January 11, 2012 11:22 AM

No longer consigned to the right side of users’ pages, Facebook is now running Sponsored Stories directly in News Feeds. “These paid units include a subtle indication that the post is ‘Featured,’” reports Inside Facebook. However, to respect the user experience, the social network is putting more controls on the type of messages advertisers can display here than it did when it previously included ads in News Feed in 2007.

Critically, brand advertisers can only pay for page posts to be featured in a user’s feed if that user has already liked the brand’s page. “Pages can seek new fans through other Sponsored Story types that will promote friend activity,” IF explains. “For instance, a friend liking a page or liking a page’s post, but the advertiser does not have the option to add its own additional messaging.”

Based on the design of the unit and previous examples of social networks putting promoted content in the stream, IF doesn’t think the change is likely to affect Facebook usage. Still, to avoid user backlash, Facebook will, at most, will expose users to one paid item in their News Feed per day, and these stories will not display on their mobile devices. To further ease the integration, Facebook has updated its Help Center with information about the new featured stories.

Read the whole story at Inside Facebook »