Facebook is gearing up to unveil its new real-time bidding feature for advertisers, a technology meant to more specifically target ads to consumers, reports Bloomberg.
This service is expected to be known as Facebook Exchange, and will allow advertisers to research various types of social network users based on their browser history, according to a spokeswoman. Moreover, reports have hinted that Facebook Exchange is expected to roll out within weeks.
With the new service, advertisers will be able to show up time- sensitive ads to users. Advertisers would be able to show more relevant ads, as they will be based on code that tracks users' web activities or cookies. This means, if a user who has accessed various travel sites, he might see travel-related ads on Facebook.
In addition, Facebook will allow the users to close the ads in its browser, and then follow a link to the company's website to opt out of the cookie tracking.
"We do not share any user data with advertisers and people still have the same control over the ads they see on Facebook that they do today," a spokeswoman said in a statement.
The users would be able to find more information about the opt-out process on Facebook's ads page. Also, third-party vendors will allow users to block cookies.
Further, based on users' listed interests and Facebook "likes," advertisers will be able to target their campaigns toward people who will likely get the most out of the display.
The real-time aspect of the system means that ads for real-world events, like the Olympics or an NBA game, could pop up following a specific event.
According to Bloomberg reports, Facebook's ad prices will be based on the cost per thousand viewers and spots will be sold via third-party technology partners.
The company earned £2 billion last year via advertising and expects mobile ads and other services to help boost sales. Currently, Facebook has almost 500 million mobile users. However, it has not yet been able to make any money from them, something the company hopes to change in the coming months.
Earlier this month, research firm comScore reported that Facebook advertisements have "a statistically significant positive lift on people's purchasing of a brand."
In a contradictory report, Reuters said very few were influenced by the Facebook ads. It said only 1 out of 5 people on Facebook actually purchased products because of the ads or comments they saw on the network.
At the same time, Google's AdWords also allows marketers to reach new customers and grow businesses by choosing where an ad appears on the search website. By adding interest categories, advertisers can reach people specifically interested their particular products and services. Google tracks users as they visit sites with AdWords advertisements, and collects data based on its own cookies.
Hence, what do you think? Will Facebook's new real-bidding service be able to mark new grounds in the arena of social marketing? Lets us know your thoughts on the same.
