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Facebook Page Vanity URLs

June 2009

Overview

As of 12:01 a.m. ET Saturday, June 13, Facebook is letting Pageowners create the vanity URLs that many have been clamoring for.That means Pages will be able to shed their lengthy addresses infavor of one that becomes facebook.com/yournamehere. Marketerscan go to http://www.facebook.com/username to make the switch.

Which Marketers Are Eligible

The Facebook Page must have been live on Facebook with at least 1,000 fans as of May 31.Trying to create a Page now or racking up fans won’t help.

Why Marketers Should Care

The most important reason is brand protection. If your company is Acme Widgets, you can claimfacebook.com/acme or facebook.com/acmewidgets.The other key reason is for brand promotion. The Facebook username can be promoted throughother marketing channels online and offline.

Why It’s Not Necessarily Urgent

Facebook is increasingly vigilant about protecting marketers’ brands. On its FAQ, Facebookoffers a number of measures for trademark owners to report infringement. Marketers shouldcheck on Monday that their brand terms are not being used as usernames by others. Marketersthat have a Page with at least 1,000 fans should select usernames as quickly as possible, butother marketers will still have recourses available.

Facebook is offering vanity URLs to both people and brand Pages.In both cases, it will be easier to create a memorable username.