DISQUS

Hmm.... A CPM of $2 for Facebook flyers with a CTR of 0.04%... that equals $5 per click.

It's fine if the CTR is dismal, but the pricepoint has to be low enough to justify it.

Even if they really had a CTR of 0.2% (which is about what BlogAds get), that'd still be $1/click.

In a world where you can buy plenty of Google ads for 25 cents to a buck a click, that's not good enough.

Yeah, I've been thinking about Facebook's email alternative for a while now.

Right now, they're are two things standing in the way of Facebook's Inbox really going wildfire as an email alternative... #1. The app isn't ready. It needs to be as full-featured as, say, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail, or Gmail. #2. Not everyone is on it.

Those are both easily surmountable, though. #1 is easily achievable with Facebook's engineering team (or, if they get bought out by someone else who already has an email app.) #2 is already underway. They'll soon hit 50 million people. Somewhere in that range is likely the tipping point.

Why would people switch? Because there's no spam in the Facebook Inbox. It's pretty powerful when the only people that can email you are people that you've given permission to email you.

Of course, in order for this to work as a true email alternative, Facebook will have to ditch the 1000-member silencing of groups. (Which is, btw, stupid. People can un-join a group if they don't like what they're getting from 'em.)

For years, people have been trying to solve the spam problem. Facebook has -- they just need to realize it.