It would be interesting to see how many people went to the Overstock website from a Facebook Beacon news item, versus how many people went there from an article or blog post complaining about Facebook Beacon.
Given the degree of closeness of most people on Facebook to most of the people on their friends list (not a great deal), I’m unconvinced by the idea that Beacon will function as a trusted referral, or (in the long run) as anything more than another type of advert to ignore. Nevertheless, I’m sure Overstock and the other partner sites are greatly enjoying the publicity in the run up to Christmas.