EQUTE — The experiment that sought to connect Facebook user’s daily activities directly to marketing failed in spectacular fashion — forcing the social network to cough up $9.5 million to promote Internet privacy.

When Facebook first unveiled Beacon, it looked like a harmless way to turn friends into “trusted referrals” — linking them to their purchases, reviews, etc. Almost immediately, there was a slew of privacy complaints with some users even complaining that the service allowed people to see their gifts in the friend feed long before the holidays.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg publicly apologized for it, and now the service is offline.

A 2008 lawsuit on behalf of 19 users against Facebook, as well as Blockbuster Inc., Fandango, Overstock.com Inc. and other companies that used Beacon, led to the settlement. The suit claimed the defendants disclosed users’ personal information for advertising purposes, without their consent.

But the expensive experiment was not without merit, according to Facebook.

“We learned a great deal from the Beacon experience,” Facebook spokesman Barry Schnitt said in a statement. “For one, it was underscored how critical it is to provide extensive user control over how information is shared. We also learned how to effectively communicate changes that we make to the user experience.”

Out of the experience grew Facebook Connect, which lets Facebook users access other sites using their Facebook log-ins and share with Facebook information on activities elsewhere.

Unlike Beacon, however, Facebook Connect gives users, rather than Facebook and advertisers, control over the information they share.