Facebook announced a new advertising model that aims at targeting Internet users despite them being members of its platform. What it means is all third-party sites and apps powered by Facebook Audience Network will be visible to billions of Internet users even if they are not using Facebook.
However, it does not introduce anything innovative, rather a more elaborate implementation of an existing model. It definitely opens up to more online real estate advertisers on-the-go.
The database of over 1.6 billion individuals adds to Facebook’s benefit for implementing advanced tracking and advertising model. Facebook will use cookie tracking along with buttons, plugins, and other data to reach users on third-party sites.
Facebook already has the in-depth knowledge of the usage pattern at its disposal as well as a formidable method to target individuals with most relevant ads.
How does it work?
Let’s consider this scenario. A user searching for a new pair of goggles will ring the appropriate bells at Facebook. This way company will get to know that the user is looking for new glasses. For the next few days, the user will be served with different ads depicting glasses no matter what site he/she is visiting.
Based on what Facebook already knows about users, it will gauge user’s interest in what he/she is looking for.
Not to forget, we have already seen Google implementing these strategies several years now.
“Because we have a core audience of over a billion people [on Facebook] who we do understand, we have a greater opportunity than other companies using the same type of mechanism,” Andrew Bosworth, VP of Facebook’s Ads and Business Platform, told the Journal.
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While this is good news for Facebook, Google might be worried about the sudden yet distinct change in the new scheme of things. After all, Google still owes its bread to advertising with over 90 percent of its last year’s revenue from ad sales.
Google is struggling to keep its ad business afloat in the mobile space, which in turn is increasingly turning out to be the preferred medium for Internet users. Facebook’s recent forays into videos is another piece of news that Google would be relishing at the moment.
Overall, while Google still might be the king of online ads, Facebook’s rapid rise is being seen as the first serious threat to its dominance in the massive online ad business. Whether or how soon we get to hail a new king remains to be seen.
