To minimize that barrier of adoption, Facebook and market research firm The Nielsen Company announced this week a partnership that will bring measurability to Facebook advertising.

The first stage of this collaboration, titled Nielsen BrandLift, will be available for general use in the coming months. The program will use opt-in polls on Facebook's homepage to measure consumer attitudes and purchase intent from existing display advertisements.

In particular, BrandLift will measure aided awareness, ad recall, message association, brand favorability and purchase consideration

"Facebook is an increasingly vital link between consumers and brands," said John Burbank, CEO of Nielsen's online division. "Together we will be able to provide the missing elements to clients seeking better understanding of how web content and online advertising affect consumer behavior."

This development will likely strike a chord with the growing amount of marketers who have increased their focus on campaign measurability due to the recession - a recent survey of global marketers by GlobalSpec found that 53 percent of respondents will specifically prioritize marketing programs that are measurable.