But clearly some people and companies do feel there is a benefit: bragging rights for individuals and marketing clout for companies. For a company, a high number of likes can superficially make it and its products appear to be more popular than they may really be – its a form of cheap advertizing. And where there is a demand, there is a supplier. There is a thriving market where you can buy likes – just as you can buy followers on Twitter.
A cursory search on Google shows socialbuzzer.net offering 1000 likes for $34.90; or 10,000 for $179.80. FBsupplier.com offers packages starting from 1000 for $29.00, while buyfacebook-likes.org’s prices range from $20.00 for 500 to $160.00 for 5000.
“Facebook,” said the company in its Friday blog, “was built on the principle of real identity and we want this same authenticity to extend to Pages. We undoubtedly expect that this will be a positive change for anyone using Facebook,” it continued, adding, “we look forward to helping even more people share and connect with the friends and brands they care about.”
The reality, suggest commentators, may be a bit more pressing. Reuters quotes Jeremiah Owyang, a partner at research firm Altimeter Group: "It's their currency. Facebook is playing the Federal Reserve, to take the counterfeit currency off the market to ensure that there's quality in the marketplace." And there is real pressure for Facebook to demonstrate quality. Since its IPO, the company has lost more than 50% of its value, and it doesn’t look as if there is any easy or quick solution. Henry Blodget says on Business Insider the warning was clear in the Facebook IPO Prospectus if anyone cared to read it. For example, says Blodget, “Facebook's growth rate was decelerating rapidly;” and “Facebook’s operating profit margin was already an astounding 50%, which suggested it had nowhere to go but down.”
Since Facebook’s revenue primarily relies on advertising revenue, the danger is that being awash with false likes could deter the marketing men and make them prefer some place where the link between money spent and benefit bought might be more genuine and quantifiable. It is likely that Facebook will indeed become increasingly tough on anything that might devalue its currency.