Facebook has been criticized for not moving fast enough on mobile ads. CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently admitted to this and other shortcomings and mentioned the company is creating an ad network. In his TechCrunch Disrupt talk, Zuckerberg’s first post-IPO address, he said they wouldn’t build a Facebook phone but will work on a new search engine. He also predicted that “on mobile we are going to make a lot more money than on desktop.”
More details are now coming out about a Facebook test of a mobile ad network where Facebook would help serve up targeted ads outside of Facebook’s own site and app. “With Facebook you have really great targeting,” a spokesperson told TechCrunch. “[Advertisers will] be able to reach people that are more likely to engage with the ads they see.”
This move comes on the heels of Facebook starting to run in-feed ads on mobile apps, charging app developers for the right to promote their apps in the feed, reports Online Publishers Association.
RBR-TVBR observation: This is a sensitive time for Facebook. Our advice is whatever in-feed mobile ads are offered should not be too obtrusive or annoying. With Pandora mobile ads, for example, most of them cover the entire screen on your mobile. Many may not realize you just have to press the “back” button to get rid of them. You had better have some very small fingers to “X” the ad out. The more FB can hyper-target the ads, the better.
