Profiting from Social Networks and Idle Browsers

Came across an interesting article in BusinessWeek:
"
Here are two potentially billion-dollar questions: How can you turn the Web's social-network users into consumers? And how can you turn idle browsing into a flourishing bottom line? Back in May, marketers hoped they might have the answer when social-networking giant Facebook opened its network to external developers. This instantly allowed them potential direct access to a user group of millions who are notoriously unimpressed by traditional advertising methods. The only challenge: developing real-world applications that users might want to embed in their profiles, which would have a real-world effect beyond mere entertainment."

The article goes on to say that doing this (developing an application that will catch fire on social networks) is not easy as it sounds. Interesting read, full article here

The two questions raised deserve some scrutiny:

1. How can you turn the Web's social-network users into consumers?
2. And how can you turn idle browsing into a flourishing bottom line?

In a small way, folks like me benefit from social network consumers...mainly by getting good web traffic to flow to our sites...but wowing such a massive networking with killer apps and making those fickle-minded folks to take your application (ever for free) is a completely different story. How does one do that? And how can one indeed profit from the millions of eyeballs and fingertips spent on idle browsing?

Interesting, significant questions