I was horrified when I saw that Facebook would only allow for pages to claim URLs if they had 1,000 fans as of May 31st. That was just silly on SO MANY LEVELS. What if the page was on the verge of getting 1,000 fans – when would they be allowed to get a URL once they achieved the goal? And what if a page was a smaller brand? How could Facebook expect pages for small businesses to compete with national brands, or expect indie bands to compete with major label artists with lots of exposure?
However, it didn’t surprise me AT ALL that Facebook was overlooking an actual opportunity to make money. They could have charged a nominal fee per URL for pages with less than 1,000 fans and made a quick six-figures. Worse, the policy would likely alienate advertisers, and make it difficult for companies starting out in the Facebook environment to launch successful campaigns that included paid ads.
So it was with great joy that I announced to my clients yesterday that Facebook had changed their policy. Mashable broke the news yesterday afternoon. As of June 28th, pages with less than 1,000 fans will be able to claim URLs, just like the super big guys.
Thank you, Facebook, for seeing some light here. Now, remind me tonight to snag my own personal username, OK?
