Previously, if you were not a Facebook user or logged in to the social network, Facebook advertising on third-party websites or mobile apps – powered by the Facebook Audience Network – would not be visible to you. All this changes now.
Over 1,6 million active users that share a range of personal information through its service, Facebook has built a formidable advertising business, allowing companies to drill down into granular detail when targeting the audience they want to reach.
This has changed the game of generating interest in websites, services, app downloads or really anything online. While Facebook's Audience Network has made it possible to reach beyond Facebook to allow advertisers to find Facebook users while they are not inside the social network, this subtle move could give advertisers the power to reach more. people.
According to Wall Street JournalFacebook will use a combination of tracking cookies, its own buttons and plugins and other data to identify unregistered users on third-party websites.
Added to this data, Facebook will use patterns within its massive user base to make assumptions about non-users to help them target more relevant advertising.
For example, why are they on this particular website, what interests and hobbies they may have, etc. This data is essential to replicate Facebook's very precise targeting with ads to users who do not have a Facebook account.
If hundreds of thousands of Facebook users who also visited a site are interested in a particular type of clothing or app, and respond well to a specific type of marketing, Facebook could use that knowledge to boost the relevance of ads to users. non-users who have visited that site – both immediately and later from cookies.
“Because we have an audience base of more than a billion people [on Facebook] we understand that we have a greater opportunity than other companies that use the same type of mechanism”
Andrew Bosworth
He told the newspaper Andrew Bosworth, VP of Facebook Ads and business platform.
Bosworth believes that beyond offering more targeted reach for advertisers, Facebook's insights into Internet users and advertising practices can benefit users by reducing poor quality advertising.
“Advertising may be here to stay, but bad publicity... doesn't have to be. That’s why we’re working to provide a better online advertising experience for everyone: people, publishers and advertisers,” she wrote in a blog.
“While more than a hundred companies already offer interest-based advertising on websites and apps today, we offer a better experience because we care about the integrity of Facebook ads,” Bosworth added. That includes refuse to serve autoplay ads or the use of frustrating pop-ups.
This move could be very crucial for Facebook. Not only is it further proof that the company is willing to establish itself as the world's first video platform – it has deep pockets when it comes to advertising, not to mention the tough YouTube competition – appealing beyond your social network, also raises some tantalizing possibilities for the future.
Back when Facebook began testing offline advertising in 2012, Facebook-based TechCrunch reporter Josh Constine wrote about the possibility of an ad-free experience on the social network.
It would essentially consist of using its core properties to collect data and provide a consistently enjoyable experience, rather than using the Facebook and Instagram apps as sources of page views.
Although it is a matter of debates whether Facebook could go as far as removing its ads entirely, a thriving internet business could allow for a stricter filter to be imposed on the types of ads shown or not have to display as much news in the home feed.
This could help focus more on video advertising, a move that Facebook has pursued for some time, while there are fewer ad placements that could make these ads effective. Scarcity would mean that these spots are more valuable to advertisers and potentially more relevant and less intrusive.
Facebook's big competitor in the global advertising market is Google. The search giant could possibly know more about people's browsing habits. But since Google is not at the level of a social network, it never got users to voluntarily fill out complete profiles with valuable personal information.
One thing is for sure, as of today: if you have avoided having a Facebook account until now or have closed your account, there is no hiding place – Facebook is going to find you on the Internet.
