Now the f8 dust has settled, here are some thoughts on yesterday's news. Firstly, the announcements are great for Facebook. At a time when they've really needed to raise the stakes with Google snapping at their heels they've done so...and then some. It was a two pronged attack, tapping into the 'needs' users (though some won't see it like that) with a more dynamic profile and boosting the ambitions of those producing the social media equivalent of gold - content - through apps.

What it means for brands who don't naturally operate in the content space is less immediately clear - certainly there are more opportunities for targeting through the API. The developments are a boon for Facebook's smart new ad product Sponsored Stories, effectively turbo charging the ads with more knowledge. Now some brands can amplify a host of new actions (or 'verbs' as Zuck referred to them) to broaden exposure and target potential customers. This will work for some of our clients operating in the entertainment and sporting verticals, for example, but whether it'll prove effective for the majority of others remains to be seen.

What is really clear is that for many brands, to operate 'in' Facebook and take advantage of all that brings, they need to integrate with the platform and tap into the social graph. A social strategy based solely on a Facebook page and 'likes' won't cut it, especially with an ever smarter algorithmic newsfeed build on interests and passions. Interestingly, we learned yesterday that Rupert Murdoch knows this which is why he's creating apps exclusively for the Facebook audience. There's a lesson here for brands merely dabbling with Pages on the one hand and unwilling to connect deeply with Facebook within their 'owned' properties (such as websites or applications) on the other.

For marketers and their agency colleagues, these changes present both opportunities and challenges. Those willing to embrace the Facebook mantra of 'social by design' look set to be the ones that will truly thrive. Those that don't may be kicking themselves when their competitors start to mine the rich seam of behavioural data housed by the runaway darling of the social web.