By now, you've probably seen Facebook's new Timeline display feature. Whether you love it or hate it, you should read this story about the real reasons why Facebook decided to make that change:

What most users don’t know is that the new features being introduced are all centered around increasing the value of Facebook to advertisers, to the point where Facebook representatives have been selling the idea that Timeline is actually about re-conceptualizing users around their consumer preferences, or as they put it, “brands are now an essential part of people’s identities.”

The name itself is cleverly designed to conceal the fact that your profile no longer arranges information chronologically. Yes, things are laid out by year and by month. But, when it comes to what’s displayed to your social circle at any given time, other metrics, including direct payments to Facebook itself, will now influence the ranking and placement of stories. This payola will be a crucial part of the graph rank, the new metric for placement that the social network uses to determine what appears on your profile.

Lots of people will think this is yawn-worthy news, because an important internet rule is that if a service is free, you're the product. And most people, I think, are fine with that rule. But it's still smart to figure out exactly how you're being sold and make your decisions based on that information. Go read the whole thing.

(Thanks to the indispensable Sarah Weinman on Twitter for the link.)