Case in point: I advertise online for the Founder Conference. A picture is worth a thousand words, so look at those stats from Facebook:

And now, for the same period, this is what Google AdWords was able to generate:

I spend 50 times more on Facebook than Google.

It gets even worse. Did you receive special offers from Google with $50, or even $100 in free AdWords credits? They seem to be swamping the market right now, and it feels desperate. Even with their free money, even with bids raised up to $2 or more, Google still can’t generate any clicks.

And Google’s interface is a pain to use.

On Facebook, I can literally say: “target everyone who likes Startup Weekend, and show them my ad”. On Google, not quite. You enter a nightmare of keywords, none of which seem to please Google, none of them generating any traffic, and you have no clue what you are supposed to do about it.

Ok, is it really time to sell your Google stock? I really don’t know if my experience is typical, but it’s not the first time, and I hear similar stories more and more often. Maybe Facebook’s valuation isn’t so crazy after all.

I asked Steve for some more info. The interview is below:

Alain: Tell us about your product and maybe where the idea came from, or why you think this is important

Steve: I’m an avid strategy gamer, and this game has been slowly coming into form over five years. Originally I envisaged it as a web application, but recently I came to realize that Facebook would be a perfect platform for it.

The setting for Despots is a fictional middle-ages world of many states or kingdoms. Each player plays a single character in that world. The central idea behind Despots- is that the players’ characters form the ruling elite of various states – the kings, courts, functionaries, generals, lords and ladies.

Player characters will be able to buy land, build armies, invest in businesses, collect taxes, command their underlings, spy on each other, and above all, conspire with one another via email.

So in a nutshell, I expect Despot to be a snake-pit of shifting alliances, intrigue, and skulduggery, both on an international level, as various states cooperate or compete to their best advantage, and also within each state itself, as individual player characters do the same on a personal level. It will be about strategy, diplomacy, and above all, trust.

Of course there is much more to it — suffice to say that the game is one that hasn’t been seen before.

Alain: What stage are you at – do you have code, specs?

Steve: The game is almost fully specced. There are some minor details awaiting further thought and/or play-testing, but all significant spec work is complete. There needs to be some tweaking now that the aim is the Facebook platform rather than a straight web app.

Alain: What help do you need now?

Steve: I need Facebook app developers and a 2-D graphical artist.

Alain: Tell us about yourself, what is your background?

Steve: I am a software developer with no time on my hands to do this concept justice!

Alain: What else will you need to succeed, or is there anything else that would make a difference for you?

Steve: I am unsure exactly how to monetize a Facebook application. I am hoping that someone with Facebook development experience will have a better idea.

Alain: Thank you!