Social advertisements and other informational messages on a social networking website, and advertising model for same

A system comprising:

• a processor;
• a web server configured to present advertisement on web pages;
• a profile store containing a profile for each of a plurality of users of a website, each profile identifying a connection to each of a plurality of other users of the website, the plurality of users comprising a viewing user;
• an action log for storing a plurality of entries, each entry describing an action taken on an object by a user of the website who has a connection to the viewing user;
• an action logger capable of receiving and adding entries to the action log based on messages about actions taken on objects;
• an advertisement request database for storing a plurality of advertisement requests from an advertiser, wherein each advertisement identifies:
• a type of action performed on an object by a connection of a viewing user, the action type selectable by the advertiser from a plurality of action types on objects provided to the advertiser by the social networking computer system;
• an advertising server for receiving advertisement requests from the advertiser to advertise on the website, the advertising server configured to provide an advertisement for the viewing user to the web server, the advertisement obtained by:
• determining that an action of the action type identified in the advertisement request was taken on the object by a connection of the viewing user,
• using the logged information to match an advertisement request to an action that:
• (1) corresponds to the type of action identified in the advertisement request, and
• (2) was taken by a connection of the viewing user;
• and
• generating an advertisement for the viewing user, the advertisement comprising an informational message that communicates information related to the corresponding action that was taken by a connection of the viewing user.

A system comprising:

• means for receiving advertisement requests by a social networking computer system from advertisers for advertising in a social networking system;
• means for identifying each advertisement request from an advertiser an indication identifying an action type performed on an object and used for triggering an advertisement, wherein:
• the action type is selectable by he advertiser from a plurality of action types on objects provided to the advertiser by the social networking computer system;
• means for tracking actions of users by the social networking computer system;
• means for generating an advertisement, by the social networking computer system, based on the tracked actions and a determination that a user performed a tracked action of the selected type on an object, the advertisement communicating information about at least one tracked action;
• and
• means for presenting the advertisement, by the social networking computer system, to at least one user of a website, wherein the user is presented with an advertisement associated with an action from at least one other user with whom the user is connected on the website.