• Venture Beat, Wednesday, October 17, 2007 10:46 AM

This is sneaky: Google is apparently recruiting third-party developers to run AdSense ads across Facebook. It's also specifically developing an ad network for third-party developers on Facebook, letting them run ads that only appear on programs within the popular social network.

Facebook can't be feeling too good about this. When the social network opened its Facebook Platform to third parties in May, it clearly said that developers could sell ads and keep all the revenue. This means Facebook would get nothing from the sale of Google AdWords on third-party applications. Microsoft is the exclusive seller of advertising on Facebook; true to form, it looks like Google has found another loophole and is taking advantage of it, if the news is accurate. There are certainly AdWords ads on Facebook; you can see them on a few apps like Fantasy Stock Exchange and South Park Character Creator.

However, the Google ads might not be such bad thing for Facebook; finding new apps can be a difficult process. Currently, the easiest way is to peruse friends' profiles, but browsing for new ones is a tedious process. AdWords ads could make the process of discovery easier. Of course, this encourages greater usage, which is good for Facebook. Rumors say the social media giant is working on an application ad network of its own.

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