Dive summary:
- Facebook had already expanded its ad offerings to include "Sponsored Stories," or targeted ads that appear in the news feed versus the side of the page, but now marketers will be able to target users based on their internet history.
- The ads can now be targeted based on users' previously visited websites; up until now, brands could only use profile data (name, location, likes) a user had willingly provided Facebook.
- The new ads are likely to increase cash flow for Facebook, but at the risk of becoming too overrun with advertising and alienating users.
From the article:
"All of this means that Facebook’s advertisers will be able to draw on three powerful sources of data (browsing history, offline data and Facebook records) in order to blast ads into one of the prime locations on the web — users’ News Feeds. For Facebook investors, this prospect is especially enticing given that this model can transfer nicely to mobile devices where users are spending more and more of their time. Facebook isn’t allowing marketers to buy mobile ads on its exchange just yet, but it’s a safe bet this will happen soon."
