Facebook has launched a new mobile ad format promoting apps, as the social network makes further attempts to bolster its smartphone and tablet revenues.
The new format will let app developers advertise their products on its members’ mobile-device news feeds.
The network will charge a fee for every time users click on the ads to download the software from elsewhere.
Facebook software engineer, Vijaye Raji, explained in a company blog that the software would initially be tested with a ‘limited set of beta partners’.
Users will be directed to new apps by the mobile ad unit. When users click on an ad for an app that they do not already possess, they will be directed to the App Store or Google Play, immediately, for the opportunity to download it.
A “power editor” option can also allow users to be targeted on the basis of what other apps they have downloaded within Facebook.
For example if they have played Disney’s ‘Gardens of Times’ on their laptop via the network, they might then be offered other hidden-object games when using Facebook’s smartphone app.
If a user clicks on one of the links, they will be redirected to the appropriate app store where they can purchase the software.
Facebook will charge advertisers for every click made, and allows them to set a maximum budget.
This new unit will be fully automated and to buy an ad, developers need only to fill out an online form, identify the chosen user demographic they’d like to reach, along with the budget they have to spend.
The mobile ad unit will tie into Facebook analytics so that once a unit is purchased, its performance can be tracked and assessed.
The format is the second mobile ad unit Facebook has issued in recent months. It previously introduced sponsored stories for its news feed in June, and it is believed that independent studies prove mobile ads to be more effective than desktop equivalents.
Facebook had previously warned its financial health would suffer if it could not find ways to make money out its mobile users. Its shares have nearly halved in price since its flotation, costing investors a total of about $50bn (£31bn).
It said it had 543 million active members using the site via a mobile phone or tablet at the end of June.
It has previously experimented with a number of other formats, including paid-for “Pages You May Like”.
It also introduced Sponsored Stories to its mobile app earlier in the year. These are posts created by an advertiser that appear if a “friend” or page the user is connected to shares the material. By paying a fee, the business or organisation can increase the likelihood their posts will be seen.
The site’s founder, Mark Zuckerberg, said it was making about $500,000 worth of sales through mobile Sponsored Stories every day at the end of June.
“People who use our mobile services are more active Facebook users than people who only use our desktop services,” Zuckerberg said, explaining why it was important for his firm to focus on the sector. “On average, mobile users are around 20% more likely to use Facebook on any given day.”
Read the official Facebook blog here
