More than 80 per cent of the biggest US advertisers are now using Facebook to promote themselves, suggesting that corporate America is starting to embrace the social networking site as a mainstream advertising platform.

美国超过80%的主要广告客户正利用Facebook进行推销，表明美国企业界正开始接受社交网站作为一种主流广告平台。

This marks a striking shift as large companies were initially hesitant to advertise on social networks, since users appeared resistant to advertising and there were fears that corporate logos might appear alongside offensive content.

这标志着一种惊人转变，大企业最初对于在社交网站上作广告心存疑虑，因为网站用户似乎对广告有排斥心理，而且企业担心其标识可能与一些冒犯的内容同时出现。

However, Facebook, which now has 340m unique monthly visitors, says that 83 of the top 100 advertising spenders in the US, as ranked by AdAge, the research group, now use its site. This group includes Johnson & Johnson, Nike and AT&T.

然而，如今月访问量达到3.4亿人次的Facebook表示，美国百强广告客户中有83家正在使用其网站，包括强生(Johnson & Johnson)、耐克(Nike)和美国电话电报公司(AT&T)。这个百强名单是由研究公司AdAge制作的。

“Every client wants to talk about Facebook,” said Ed Montes, US managing director of Havas Digital, whose clients include Sears, Expedia and Air France. “I haven't seen this kind of consistent fervour for a company since Google.”

“每个客户都希望和我们讨论Facebook，”Havas Digital美国董事总经理艾德•蒙蒂斯(Ed Montes)表示。“自谷歌(Google)之后，我们还从未见过客户如此一致地热衷于一家公司。”该公司的客户包括西尔斯(Sears)、Expedia和法国航空(Air France)。

Unlike previous big brand advertising on the web, the ads on Facebook are not splashy displays and banners but more discreet, blending into the overall site design. They typically invite users to engage with companies, directing them to pages and applications where they can become fans of the company and receive regular updates.

和以前大型品牌的互联网广告不同，Facebook上的广告不是抓人眼球的醒目广告或横幅广告，而是更加低调，与网站的整体设计融为一体。通常这些广告会邀请用户与企业互动，指引他们访问一些网页或使用某些应用程序，让他们成为公司的粉丝，定期接收最新消息。

“Facebook is trying to build a platform where consumers and marketers can interact in innovative ways,” said Mr Montes.

“Facebook正努力打造一个平台，让消费者和企业能够以创新的方式互动，”蒙蒂斯表示。

Starbucks has more than 3.7m fans on its Facebook page, while Coca-Cola has more than 3.5m.

星巴克(Starbucks)在其Facebook页面上有370万余名粉丝，而可口可乐(Coca-Cola)有350万余名。

“If you look at people's profile pages, you'll see a lot of commercial activity even without advertising,” says Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook chief operating officer.

“如果你浏览一下个人的档案主页，就能发现即使没有广告，也有许多商业行为，”Facebook首席运营官谢乐尔•桑德伯格(Sheryl Sandberg)表示。

Facebook does not charge companies to have a fan page or an application. Nor does it plan to take a cut of the increased e-commerce taking place on its applications.

企业在Facebook上创建粉丝页或设置应用程序是免费的。Facebook也不打算从其应用程序上日益增加的电子商务收取佣金。

However, Ms Sandberg argues that the effectiveness of these free services is prompting the big brands to advertise. In the past year, more big advertisers have also begun to campaign on MySpace.

然而，桑德伯格认为，这些免费服务的有效性，正推动大型品牌在网站上做广告。过去一年里，开始在MySpace上展开广告攻势的企业也有所增加。

译者/管婧