Dive Brief:
- Facebook continues to add new products with the latest possibly targeting Twitter in a new app designed to deliver news.
- The new app is expected to be part of the company’s Facebook for Business initiative.
- So far the new project is in early testing with a handful of chosen companies.
Dive Insight:
Is Facebook taking Twitter on in delivering real-time news?
What looks like a new product as part of its Facebook for Business initiative seems to do just that. It's a standalone app designed deliver news alerts from partner publications immediately to users. The product will send 100 characters and a URL to users’ mobile devices based on available publishers from among which users choose to receive alerts. So far the pilot program only includes a select group of unnamed publishers.
Other Facebook news from this week includes selling autoplay video ads through third-party apps. The social media platform expanded its Facebook Audience Network with new products that allow marketers to purchase ads across a spectrum of Facebook apps as well as third-party apps. Facebook earned almost $3 billion from mobile ads in Q2.
