Dive summary: 

• Facebook has recently made some major cuts to their ad offerings, but what this will ultimately mean for advertisers isn't entirely clear yet. 
• The types of ads have been scaled back from 27 to 13 options after feedback from marketers that the ads were too complicated and too focused on tech features rather than results. 
• The 13 remaining ads will be streamlined to make it easy for marketers to make decisions; this will be especially helpful to smaller businesses who may not have an agency to consult. 

From the article: 

"The most prominent ad product to be axed is Facebook’s “Sponsored Stories.” Sponsored Stories clogged up users’ newsfeeds and turned them into unpaid brand spokespeople. Moreover, looking at the CPC, it was an expensive advertising option that delivered few guarantees for lead generation. According to Facebook, Sponsored Stories were cut as a product but not as an idea. From now on, Facebook will only use sponsored story-type ads in social contexts, meaning that users will see the social context in which friends liked certain brands or ads. How exactly that is different from the current format is so far unclear."