Users choose ads for their social web pages

Earlier this month, we wrote about Everyday Models, the company that lets consumers rent out various aspects of their lives for advertising purposes. Zeroing in more narrowly on the online profile is Bomeiti, a service from Catalist Group that lets social media users choose the ads that appear on their pages—and then earn rewards for their selections. Through partnerships with social media providers, Bomeiti gives users of social networks and other such sites the ability to customize the online advertising that gets served on their personal pages. Users begin by specifying their preferences and interests; advertisers and agencies, meanwhile, specify the corresponding characteristics of the consumers they’d like to target with their ads. Bomeiti then matches ads to user tastes and displays the relevant ads on the appropriate users’ pages. Users are rewarded with points for the ads that are shown on their pages and can donate those rewards to the social causes of their choice. Bomeiti’s service provider partners are currently all Chinese, and include Cityne, Mipang, ShanghaiNing, Yobo and Neocha. As with the ad-sponsored snailmail provider we featured this week, there are benefits to advertisers in letting users select the ads that their friends will see. With more control for social media users and better targeting for advertisers and service providers, Bomeiti offers a potential new model for advertising in the world of social media. Only time will tell if it will take hold; in the meantime, one to watch! (Related: Paying consumers for promoting products they love.)