Well well, aren't they clever? To help local businesses give free wi-fi service to their customers without having to type any annoying passwords or click andy "I agree" buttons, facebook offers wi-fi login, as long as you log-in via facebook. And now they know where you be shopping at in real life too!
For this small test, Facebook is supplying the router but businesses are providing the Internet access. When visitors check into a location on Facebook, they are redirected to the business’ Facebook page and can continue to browse the web for free. Page owners will be able to track how many new Likes they received from people who took advantage of this service. Visitors who don’t wish to check in can request a passcode from the local business to connect to the network anyway.
It's a win win for everyone! Small businesses get more likes to their pages, whatever that is worth, you get free wi-fi, and facebook gets to stalk you in real life too. It's swell!
Quick, create a not-you facebook account to use at these 'free' wi-fi spots if you don't want to pay with information about your shopping habits, not because marketers are scary, but because privacy, and lets face it stalkers need more of a challenge. It's too easy these days.
In the end, this could greatly improve local search and all sorts of mapping of peoples shopping habits, data a marketer will love, and info that a user might find useful. But is it worth the cost?
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