This is not a “news feed”, it is part of the new “games dashboard” they will be implementing.
They also mentioned this new viral channel would be specifically for games, although that may have changed amidst all the current backlash.

In particular, with the reintroduction of the “publishStoryToUser” method (or whatever it ends up being called), I believe we are seeing the very beginning of Facebook becoming the VRM hub of all our vendor (think: brands) relationships.

By limiting the communication to a one-to-one basis, Facebook is creating a channel through which vendors can finally realize the potential of double-opt in permission based marketing.

If I have a Fan Page for jetBlue, which offers me the opportunity to enter my account (frequent flyer) information, there’s an opportunity for jetBlue to send me completely customized offers should I so choose. Every Fan page will have a number of custom communications setting to regulate how much and what type of information you receive from the vendor.

Such a direct channel will become extremely valuable and Facebook will be able to charge for it. Look for Facebook’s VRM channels to surpass Google’s revenues from search within a few short years.

The missing piece in the puzzle is that facebook needs to give users a much more robust and nuanced tool by which they can manage the dozens, if not hundreds, of VRM relationships.

Additionally, people’s relationships with brands, institutions, organizations, non-profits, etc. are an important component to their public personas. Therefore, Facebook will eventually need to build a tab called Affiliations, which lets people display those vendor relationships they choose to display.

Thanks for a thought provoking blog post.