No need to fret: You can get personalized feedback from LetSimonDecide. And it'll be based on your personality and goals, not just what the 'rents would consider a safe bet.

The application is compared by some to the forthcoming Hunch.com, which we wrote about recently. LetSimonDecide was created by Ayax Systems, a company that specializes in comsumer decision making. "All too often people bring too much emotion into important life decisions," said Ayax CEO, Ricardo Solar. "LetSimonDecide.com gives users an unbiased, 360-degree view of the many factors that should be taken into consideration before making important decisions, helping them make more informed, smarter choices in the end."

The interface is user-friendly and rich in graphics. Beta accounts are available in both English and Spanish language versions.

To test the decision-making process on LetSimonDecide, we chose to consider whether I, Jolie O'Dell, should get another tattoo. Here's how the process started.

LetSimonDecide presented us with scores of factors to take into consideration: Age, sex appeal, cost, culture, and just about anything else one could imagine as being part of anyone's tattoo decision. The site then prompted us to rank the chosen factors in order of significance.

The app then did something that young people are so bad at: It challenged us to see which possible outcomes best met our stated important factors, closing the gap between the impulse to do/buy something cool and the long-term requirements of real life.

Next came the hardcore reality check: How did this decision relate to my long-term life goals, my personality, and my current life situation? Dad would be so proud.

At long last, "Simon" helped me decide. Looks like I'm in for some ink sometime in the near future.

Once the decision-making process is complete, users can share their conclusions with other site members and make an action plan to implement the decision. Unfortunately, cross-network sharing is not yet a feature. Personally, I'd love to tweet my tat decision and get feedback from my friends; this comes from a childhood filled with the phrase, "There is wisdom in a multitude of counselors." Also, friends could probably help out with the "action plan" phase for lots of decisions.

Overall, the process was actually quite fun. It took the anxiety and pain out of making decisions based on reality. We recommend it for the indecisive, the poor planners, and the chronically chaotic. Users who might fit that profile are especially encouraged to test the app and leave their findings in the comments here.

Starting this spring, companies will be able to selectively target Facebook's members in order to research the appeal of new products through a polling system called Engagement Ads as demonstrated at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Engagement Ads are not new to Facebook. Last year, The Wall Street Journal reported that Facebook had begun "quietly testing" the product in August and was hoping to roll it out by the end of November.

Engagement Ads, said the WSJ, would appear on the home page of Facebook when you first log on and prompt you to interact with an ad. If you did interact with the ad, Facebook would then attempt to share your action with your friends thus "getting the ad in front of more eyeballs."

At the time, Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said that ads systems are "built over time through continual tweaking." She added that Facebook's existing ad offerings were doing well but "undersell Facebook's broader opportunity."

If the Telegraph report is correct, Engagement Ads have had a massive tweak; companies will be able to pose questions to and receive feedback from selected members in real time based on user information that Facebook provides.

Randi Zuckerberg, Facebook's Global Markets Director, told the Telegraph that companies are excited about this new polling system. "It takes a very long time to do a focus group, and businesses often don't have the luxury of time. I think they liked the instant responses," she said.

Facebook's Advertising Attempts

Facebook's foray into advertising over time has been weak at best. Forrester's Jeremiah Owyang has called Facebook's marketing toolset 'confusing', adding that brands will only succeed with engagement advertising if they lean on user behaviors like communication, self-expression, and social exploration.

When Facebook launched it's much hyped advertising strategy in 2007, we had hoped it would not be met with backlash. Unfortunately this wasn't to be the case and the Beacon saga came to an end the following month with Mark Zuckerberg apologizing for the way Facebook had dealt with the situation.

It appears Facebook has run the gamut when it comes to advertising efforts. What began with fliers, display banner ads and even the very similar Facebook Polls have not yet inspired marketers to run in droves to the popular social networking site.

But could this be the year things turn around for them? Maybe. Change certainly is in the air at Facebook. Zuckerberg had noticeably dressed up for Davos, telling blogger Robert Scoble it was to denote that this was Facebook's 'intense' year. The Facebook founder bio page has had a recent addition. And as for Engagement Ads? Well, we'll just have to wait and see. What do you think?

Update: Facebook has contacted us and said that the technology demonstrated at the conference was not a new service and that there have been no changes to the company's existing polls and Engagement Ads services. We'll made a new post later today to discuss why the prospect of this new service has raised so much interest and concern. See Why a Facebook "Sentiment Engine" Would be Huge