Businessweek shares that Facebook is now going to use the data it has about your likes and dislikes to show you ads outside of Facebook. This is the first real confirmation that the company is going to roll out an advertising network that extends beyond just its own walled garden, and it could turn out to be one of the biggest factors in the success or failure of Facebook’s revenue-growth strategy.
Sponsored stories are one way of trying to solve that problem. An external advertising network—one that uses information about users and their activity on Facebook as a way of targeting external ads on other websites—is another way.
Read more details on this story at businessweek.
With this new module, the social network is showing some users two Sponsored Stories at a time. This increases Facebook’s mobile inventory, but it’s unclear how it might affect clickthrough rates. Two ads are now competing next to each other, but the unit includes a large thumbs-up symbol. It’s unknown whether this format is being tested only for premium advertisers working with Facebook directly or whether any mobile Sponsored Story is eligible to be shown here.
