Dive Brief:
- Among other announcements at the Facebook F8 developer conference was the news that LiveRail, acquired by Facebook last summer, will be utilized to bring new opportunities to advertisers.
- LiveRail's will bring native video ads to the Facebook Audience Network—its mobile ad network launched last spring—for mobile apps in and outside Facebook's platform.
- Facebook also plans to harness LiveRail's technology to allow publishers to sell targeted ads based on the social media site's user data for their own sites and mobile apps.
Dive Insight:
The new functions LiveRail offers Facebook put the social giant that much closer to Google AdSense. In some areas, the rivalry between Google and Facebook for mobile ad space is helpful for advertisers and publishers, as they now have more choices. However, some may worry that Facebook will soon takeover Google as the sole power due to the vast reach of the social platform.
