Facebook Development Roadmap was just released yesterday, Dec 2, 2009.  These updates are building 2010 to become a pivotal year for social marketing.

Here are the 5 Facebook changes that brand marketers must prepare for:

1. Email - Formally hidden, Facebook will provide developer access to user’s email address upon consent.  This is HUGE if you’re an email marketer
2. Notification - App-to-user and user-to-user notification will be replaced by using news stream, inbox and email.  This means you cannot count on status updates to always show up on your fan’s page.  Brand marketers should consider asking for email addresses to market your products and services.
3. Status Updates – Facebook will determine what status updates are relevant to your news feed.  Similar to above, if you’re a brand marketer, go for email to ensure your messages reach your target audience.
4. Counter - Facebook’s way of measuring word-of-mouth.  Two billion pieces of content are shared every week, brand marketers will not only measure their reach but also avoid sending duplicate messages.
5. Open Graph API – This is the most important update for brand marketers.  Every web page will soon potentially be a Facebook fan page.  These “Fanned” pages will show up in user’s FB profiles and in search results and that page will be able to publish stories to the stream of its fans.

Facebook’s 2010 roll-outs proves that they are listening to users and brands.  Expect these changes to help smart companies capitalize on the movement from anonymous web to socially connected web.