More mobile: Its mobile-first strategy signalled the big shift as developers focussed on the small screen to get people using Facebook as the key sharing tool when they’re with their friends. More commercial: Smarter and better advertising products, simplifying the formats, buying the Atlas network from Microsoft, pushing aggressively in mobile. More mainstream: As Facebook’s […]
More mobile: Its mobile-first strategy signalled the big shift as developers focussed on the small screen to get people using Facebook as the key sharing tool when they’re with their friends.
More commercial: Smarter and better advertising products, simplifying the formats, buying the Atlas network from Microsoft, pushing aggressively in mobile.
More mainstream: As Facebook’s grown up, it’s become more like traditional media, with strong account teams, analytics and a focus on audience quality
Facebook’s highs, lows and goats
After its IPO fiasco last year, 2013 was a year of consolidation for Facebook; simplifying ad formats, clarifying privacy policies and most importantly appeasing its new shareholders by turning a profit and expanding its mobile reach. As part of our 2013 review series, we look back at the 10 biggest headlines that shaped Facebook during the year as Zuckerberg took on mobile marketing (and a goat).
After years of speculation, this year we finally got the Facebook Phone… which then flopped. The HTC “First” used Facebook’s much hyped new ‘Home’ interface, but its global rollout stalled after ‘customer feedback’ suggested the world was not ready (or did not want) for a smartphone with key features focused around the social network.
Despite this, Facebook’s ‘mobile first’ strategy has paid off in other areas, with 30% of its revenue now coming from ads seen on tablets and smartphones. They’re attacking mobile aggressively and placing their future on all of us using Facebook as our mobile address book, message tool, sharing software and lifestyle management tool.
With further plans for Instagram ads to monetise its photo app’s fast growing youth audience, shareholders might be able to overlook Zuckerberg’s ‘Home’ fiasco for now…
Facebook takes on Google with ‘Graph Search’
January 2013
Facebook has overhauled its search engine in a bid to take on Google, letting users search for people, photos, places and other content that has already been shared on the social network. At a ‘mystery event’ from the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled the service, dubbed Graph Search.
Facebook free voice call app hits UK: a threat to mobile networks?
March 2013
In a potential challenge to mobile networks, Facebook has expanded its Messenger app to the UK, offering uses with free voice calls with friends on the social network. The features have been trialled in the US and Canada at the beginning of the year, and lets users make free calls to their Facebook contacts over Wi-Fi.
Facebook finally buys Atlas to boost ad tools
March 2013
After weeks of rumours, Facebook has bought Atlas from Microsoft for an undisclosed sum, as the social network looks to boost its ad targeting capabilities. The move ends weeks of speculation about the acquisition, and gives Facebook the technology to help determine which ads should be displayed to which Internet surfers. Atlas had been part of Microsoft’s disastrous purchase of aQuantive. The software giant paid about $6.3 billion for the platform in 2007.
Facebook delays smartphone launch in Europe after disappointing sales
May 2013
Facebook has postponed the European launch of its ‘First’ smartphone following disappointing US sales and negative feedback. The handset, made by HTC, runs Facebook’s enhanced Home interface, designed to be more integrated into the smartphone than a normal app. UK mobile operator EE confirmed that “following customer feedback” the Europe launch had been stalled.
Watch this ad for Home below;
Facebook halves number of ad formats: simpler options for marketers
June 2013
Facebook is reducing its number of ad units by half, as the social network looks to encourage more advertisers to the site with a simpler format range, tailored to key marketing objectives. In the next six months, Facebook will take the number of total ad units from 27 to fewer than half of that. The social network said it aims to target all ad formats to the business objectives ‘marketers care about’, such as store sales, online conversions, or app installs.
Social media ad targeting: Facebook adds clickable hashtags for real–time marketing
June 2013
Facebook has added Twitter-style clickable hashtags, letting users quickly find similar topics and like-minded users across the site, while giving marketers a new channel for their social media ad targeting. Now, adding the “#” sign to a word in Facebook ill turn it into a clickable link which brings up a feed of what other people are saying about the same topic. Facebook said it offers a “larger view of what’s happening”. The move could also boost ad sales, but Facebook does not currently allow advertisers to target people posting a specific hashtag or to sponsor a hashtag – as is the case with Twitter.
Facebook takes on PayPal with mobile payments tool
August 2013
Facebook is testing a new online payments service aimed at making it easier for users to make purchases on their mobile devices. The social networking site will let people to make purchases with just their Facebook login on partnering e-commerce mobile apps. The service would use payment information that shoppers store on Facebook to automatically complete checkout forms of certain apps.
Facebook tracks social effect on TV ratings
October 2013
Facebook has begun tracking how its users engage with 45 primetime TV shows in the US, as the social network looks to rival Twitter in providing advertisers with real time viewer data. The move will see Facebook sending weekly reports to the four largest US television networks from this week, providing a look at how much chatter their shows are causing on the social network. The reports will contain how many “actions” such as likes, comments, or shares a TV episode has generated on Facebook and how many members took part in an action. Facebook, which will not make the results generally available, will share the data reports with ABC, NBC, Fox, and CBS, and a small number of select partners.
Facebook Ad Exchange to include Google’s DoubleClick ads for first time
October 2013
In a major U-turn, Facebook is finally allowing Google to run is Doubleclick display ads on its ad exchange. The move means that Facebook users will start to see display ads served by Google’s ad placing service, giving both companies a potentially lucrative new stream of ad revenue and commission The announcement surprised some analysts as the two companies are fierce competitors in the digital ad market. However, the move could benefit both companies, with Facebook is hoping to sell a higher volume of product and Google collecting a small commission fee for each customer it sends to Facebook.
Instagram tests sponsored ads in photo streams
October 2013
Instagram has released a sample of its upcoming ad format, integrated into a user’s photostream as a ‘Sponsored’ image, as the Facebook-owned photo app looks to turn its rising popularity into cash. The photo-sharing service said the ads will begin appearing in users’ feeds in the coming week and showed examples of what ads will look like in a blog post. The move marks the first time ads have appeared in Instagram feeds, which was acquired by Facebook in June 2010 for $1bn. Levi’s, Ben & Jerry’s, General Electric and PayPal are among the first advertisers to sign up to the format.
