Facebook just made several changes to its self-serve ad options. The big one: That advertisers can now buy mobile-only news feed Sponsored Stories — potentially huge for app developers looking to buy installs.
This could be a key step for Facebook to monetize its massive mobile audience in a significant way — a constant topic among skeptics in the run-up to the company’s IPO. Facebook was already moving into mobile advertising, but this new option should be especially attractive to advertisers who want to reach a mobile-only audience.
For example, this could be a big opportunity for smartphone app developers, who can now target potential users when they’re actually on their phones, offering them a link that goes directly to the download page in the app store. This could also be tempting to local businesses (especially when coupled with Facebook’s zip code-level ad targeting) who want to reach users when they’re out-and-about on their phones.
Here’s the full list of placements that Facebook says advertisers can now buy through its API and Power Editor:
Facebook is the world’s largest social network, with over 1 billion monthly active users. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg in February 2004, initially as an exclusive network for Harvard students. It was a huge hit: in 2 weeks, half of the schools in the Boston area began demanding a Facebook network. Zuckerberg immediately recruited his friends Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes, and Eduardo Saverin to help build Facebook, and within four months, Facebook added 30 more college networks. The original...
Seattle, WA
San Diego, CA
Menlo Park, CA
San Francisco
San Francisco, CA
Berlin, Germany
