• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, May 15, 2012

Once Facebook goes public, it will only lead the company to push the boundaries of how it can use member data to bolster the value of advertising on the site.  Chris Emme, VP, East Coast, RadiumOne, speaking on an OMMA Social panel Tuesday, said the quarterly pressure on Facebook to make its revenue numbers will force it to more fully exploit the trove of user data it possesses to keep sales growing. That push will run up against its obligations to protect users privacy, creating an ongoing tension for Facebook on how it balances those two conflicting goals.

John Montgomery, COO, Group M Interaction, predicts a bigger backlash post-IPO as consumers learn more about the company’s ad targeting practics. He also argues the privacy issue for Facebook could largely be dispelled by putting privalcy policies into simpler, easier-to-understand terms. “Lets get advertising copyrighters to write privacy policies, not lawyers,” he suggested. Hmmm, maybe not.