Sponsored-stories-unit creation from organic activity stream

1. A method comprising, by one or more computing systems:

receiving a bid to display an organic-activity-stream entry matching particular story characteristics, the bid comprising a bid amount and one or more targeting criteria;

receiving a stream-sponsored-story-specification to define the particular story characteristics, the stream-sponsored-story-specification comprising at least one of an entity and an action type;

monitoring an activity stream for actions that match the stream-sponsored-story-specification, the activity stream comprising actions performed by users of a social networking system;

identifying an organic-activity-stream entry in the activity stream as matching the story characteristics defined by the stream-sponsored-story-specification; and

providing for display the organic-activity-stream entry based at least in part on the bid amount and targeting criteria.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the bid amount comprises an amount a sponsor will pay based on a number of times an organic-activity-stream entry identified as matching the story characteristics is provided for display in a predetermined area of a web page.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the bid amount comprises an amount a sponsor will pay based on a number of times an organic-activity-stream entry identified as matching the story characteristics is clicked on by a user.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the targeting criteria comprises a filter to apply to fields of profiles of users of a social-networking system.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the targeting criteria comprises a filter to apply to social-networking-system profiles of users of a social-networking system.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the filter is applied to explicit information in the social-networking-system profiles of the users of the social-networking system.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein explicit information in a social-networking-system profile of a user of the social-networking system comprises:

information expressly entered by the user into the social-networking-system profile;

actions by the user within the social-networking system;

connections of the user within the social-networking system to other entities on the social-networking system, one or more of the entities comprising other users of the social-networking system.

8. The method of claim 5 , wherein the filter is applied to implicit information from the social-networking-system profiles of the users of the social-networking system.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein implicit information from a social-networking-system profile of a first user of the social-networking system comprises an inference from explicit information in a social-networking-system profile of a second user of the social-networking system connected to the first user within the social-networking system.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the entry identified as matching the story characteristics is provided for display through a notification or on a third-party website.

11. One or more computer-readable non-transitory storage media embodying software that is operable when executed by one or more computing devices to:

receive a bid to display an organic-activity-stream entry matching particular story characteristics, the bid comprising a bid amount and one or more targeting criteria;

receive a stream-sponsored-story-specification to define the particular story characteristics, the stream-sponsored-story-specification comprising at least one of an entity and an action type;

monitor an activity stream for actions that match the stream-sponsored-story-specification, the activity stream comprising actions performed by users of a social networking system;

identify an organic-activity-stream entry in the activity stream as matching the story characteristics defined by the stream-sponsored-story-specification; and

provide for display the organic-activity-stream entry based at least in part on the bid amount and targeting criteria.

12. The media of claim 11 , wherein the bid amount comprises an amount a sponsor will pay based on a number of times an organic-activity-stream entry identified as matching the story characteristics is provided for display in a predetermined area of a web page.

13. The media of claim 11 , wherein the bid amount comprises an amount a sponsor will pay based on a number of times an organic-activity-stream entry identified as matching the story characteristics is clicked on by a user.

14. The media of claim 11 , wherein the targeting criteria comprises a filter to apply to fields of profiles of users of a social-networking system.

15. The media of claim 11 , wherein the targeting criteria comprises a filter to apply to social-networking-system profiles of users of a social-networking system.

16. The media of claim 15 , wherein the filter is applied to explicit information in the social-networking-system profiles of the users of the social-networking system.

17. The media of claim 16 , wherein explicit information in a social-networking-system profile of a user of the social-networking system comprises:

information expressly entered by the user into the social-networking-system profile;

actions by the user within the social-networking system;

connections of the user within the social-networking system to other entities on the social-networking system, one or more of the entities comprising other users of the social-networking system.

18. The media of claim 15 , wherein the filter is applied to implicit information from the social-networking-system profiles of the users of the social-networking system.

19. The media of claim 18 , wherein implicit information from a social-networking-system profile of a first user of the social-networking system comprises an inference from explicit information in a social-networking-system profile of a second user of the social-networking system connected to the first user within the social-networking system.

20. The media of claim 11 , wherein the entry identified as matching the story characteristics is provided for display through a notification or on a third-party website.

21. A system comprising:

means for receiving a bid to display an organic-activity-stream entry matching particular story characteristics, the bid comprising a bid amount and one or more targeting criteria;

means for receiving a stream-sponsored-story-specification to define the particular story characteristics, the stream-sponsored-story-specification comprising at least one of an entity and an action type;

means for monitoring an activity stream for actions that match the stream-sponsored-story-specification, the activity stream comprising actions performed by users of a social networking system;

means for identifying an organic-activity-stream entry in the activity stream as matching the story characteristics defined by the stream-sponsored-story-specification; and

means for providing for display the organic-activity-stream entry based at least in part on the bid amount and targeting criteria.