I really don’t want to get in the habit of repeating information from other blogs, it already happens too much. But just this once, Valleywag reported over the weekend that Facebook is encouraging marketers, bands, and the like to migrate from Groups to Pages. Apple has made the move, and now has 400,000 fans of its Page.
The idea is that the traffic to and from the Pages will generate enough ad revenue to offset the previous revenue that Facebook charges for sponsored Groups. This model has not been proven yet, and I am a tad skeptical due to the fact that Facebook is still relying on text ads. Potentially competitors will pay to show up on competitors Pages?
Ad revenue aside, there are positives for marketers, as told by a developer and blogger:

– Pages are more customizable than groups. You can add HTML, Flash, or even Facebook applications to your pages to extend their functionality and the depth of experience users can have with your brand.
– Pages get more prominent �Bumper Stickers� real estate than groups on the profile pages of your fans.
– There is no limitation to the number of fans in your group that you can message.
– “Fans” who join your group are NOT able to invite their friends to be fans of your Page. Fans must either “Share” your page with their friends, or their friends must observe that they “are a fan” of your Page either via their profile page or News Feed.
– Facebook has taken an active role in cracking down on Pages not created by authorized agents.

So what’s maybe good for Facebook is probably good for marketers, or something like that.