Facebook Ads Debuts
In case you hadn’t heard (and trust me, within a few days, you will have…) Facebook has come out and released what some think is a bombshell in the form of Facebook Ads. Now some of you might be thinking, “Doesn’t Facebook already offer ads by placing those stupid Facebook Flyers on every page?” Well, yeah, but this is much more than that and something which I predicted long ago.
Basically, advertisers have three different avenues to pursue when they sign up for Facebook Ads.
Social Ads: Ads which are targeted using the profile data of Facebook members.
Beacon: Ad widgets that advertisers can put on their own sites. Thus, Facebook members can use the widgets to spread the word about a product via their own personal feed.
Insight: Detailed profile information that is sent to Facebook advertisers, telling them who and when people are clicking their ads.
You can read more about the new Facebook Ads in Facebook’s Press Release, but suffice to say, this is just another new way for companies to shill their products to you. Basically, like I mentioned earlier, this is a way for Facebook and companies to use the information in your profile to judge what kind of products you’d actually be interested in and then send ads for those products to you. Now on the surface, some might cringe at the idea of targeted ads and personal information being used in them, but targeted ads have been around for a while. Anybody with Gmail knows that if they log into their account and read an e-mail, the Google Ads will usually have something to do with the text in your letter.
And when you think about this from the other side of the coin, how many times have you complained when you saw an ad you weren’t interested in. No offense to parents, but I’m not in the market for diapers or baby formula. So why should I have to see ads for those? At the same time, Facebook knows I love The Simpsons and there might easily be a new DVD or book out about that that I might not otherwise had heard about unless it were for targeted ads.
As of now, there are 12 large brands and companies that you’ll most likely be seeing the most of until more join. They are: Partners joining the stage at a launch event in New York for Facebook Ads included senior executives from Blockbuster, CBS, Chase, The Coca-Cola Company, Sony Pictures, Verizon, CondéNet (Epicurious.com and flip.com), Crest Whitestrips, Dove Cream Oils, Herbal Essences, The New York Times Co., and Saturn.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve spent way too much time reading and typing about Facebook for now. The Australian beach is calling me and I think I have a beer or two with my name on it. Until I get home stateside to write about this more, you can read a pretty cool analysis of the newly launched Facebook and Myspace ads campaigns here.
