One of the most interesting analyses I’ve read about Facebook’s ad business and the future of the company is Kurt Eichenwald’s Facebook Leans In. This Marc Andreessen quote stood out immediately as core to a proper understanding of how Facebook works:

None of the people close to Mark and the company think of Facebook as a Web site. They think of it as a data set, a feedback loop.

Kurt does a stellar job of piecing together information from different sources to tell a compelling story:

The Facebook of old—well, of a year ago—is almost irrelevant to the company that exists today, which not only is set to change the world of social networking, but could herald the biggest transformation in American advertising since the advent of television.

That is my conclusion from months of interviews with Facebook ad clients, investors, the company’s senior management and other key executives, as well as reviews of reams of data, including confidential reports. What emerges is a portrait of a widely misunderstood company that has quietly been pioneering a marketing business model unlike any other in Silicon Valley—or, for that matter, Madison Avenue.

It’s a long article, but if you’re at all interested in how Facebook is redefining the ad business, it’s a must-read.

(link via @kbaxter)