Guest Editorial: Facebook Exchange bridges Big Data and social media
by Ammon Brown, VP of Operations at TRAFFIQ (Guest contributor)
With Facebook’s announcement that they will begin participating in Real Time Bidding platforms, the company has taken the first step out of its walled garden of data. Facebook will begin tracking user behavior across the web and using that data to target ads to users when they are on Facebook. For instance, if you visit Best Buy’s website and look at a digital camera, Best Buy can use that interaction to show you an ad for the same camera the next time you are on Facebook.
While this is certainly a win for direct marketers and retailers, it is also an interesting admission by Facebook: “Our existing data might be an insufficient mechanism to target advertising.” There is no doubt that Facebook is sitting on a treasure trove of user data, but they have had trouble leveraging that data to create effective advertising programs.
By monitoring the rest of the Web and targeting their ads based on user behavior elsewhere, they seem to be admitting that they do not, in fact, have the holy grail of advertising and they may not be the Google-killer they have been lauded as. Sourcing data from outside of Facebook seems to be Facebook’s first step into the standards-driven ad world.
The central promise of Facebook has always been that they have better data than anyone else because their users share everything with them. However, one of the biggest issues for marketers is how to best leverage that data. Facebook provides limited and proprietary ad formats making display advertising cumbersome. Their method of targeting interest-based ads does not fit the search marketing mold, making simple copy and paste of search campaigns difficult as well.
This move is also a blow to Facebook’s trailblazing image. They were supposed to rewrite the rules on how advertising is conducted. Their ad format is their ad format, and marketers can either fit their mold or they can go elsewhere. This strategy worked for Google, who forced ads into 95 characters of text and set the standard for text ads online. But it is not working for Facebook. That they need to look elsewhere for data is an admission that they cannot rewrite the rules of advertising the way Google did.
This is not to say Facebook is waving the white flag just yet. They still have a robust ad business, mountains of data, and hundreds of millions of users. While this is certainly a big step for Facebook, there will hopefully be further integrations yet to come that will allow marketers to leverage their data. The first iteration of Facebook exchange allows advertisers to target ads within Facebook based on user behavior elsewhere. The next logical step is to export Facebook’s data to external websites to target traditional display ads. Imagine the ability to use Facebook data in RTB exchanges. Couple firsthand knowledge of a user’s interests with the massive scale of the inventory available and you have quite a compelling product.
The only thing holding Facebook back right now is likely privacy concerns. They followed users around the web with Beacon before and got burned. They will enter the market carefully, but it is a pretty sure bet that they will become an RTB data provider in the near future; and then they might just become the juggernaut they are hyped to be.
Over the past 10 years, Ammon traveled a career path that has touched all facets of the search marketing business. He has managed large-scale campaigns in industries as diverse as enterprise technology, healthcare, gaming, pharmaceuticals, and tourism. Ammon has worked within search engines, with marketers, and with agencies, giving him a unique perspective on the search industry from many angles. Ammon currently spearheads the search and analytics department with TRAFFIQ, a digital media solutions provider.
I have read so many posts on thee topic of the blogger
lovers except this paragraph is really a good article, keep it up.
When I initially commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I get three e-mails with
the same comment. Is there any way you can remove people from that service?
Bless you!
What a material off un-ambiguity and preserveness oof precious knowledge regarding
unexpected emotions.
Heere is myy site :: Leadership training
I’ve read sveral just right studf here. Certainly worth bookmarking for revisiting.
I surprise how so much effort you put tto make the sort of excellent informative web site.