Those seeking to escape Facebook's targeted advertising may find avoiding it a little bit harder now that the social networking site's Audience Network is open to all marketers.
Facebook's Audience Network draws the social networking site's ads out into other apps. Developers looking to monetize apps can infuse them with ads from Audience Network, while publishers enjoy a wider reach for ad campaigns.
In a recent blog post, Facebook revealed it has expanded the availability of Audience Network and re-engineered the platform to support more ad types. Advertisers can now link ads to mobile websites.
"Along with app install and app engagement ads, the Audience Network now supports link ads, meaning any advertiser can use the network to drive traffic to its mobile website," says Facebook. "Businesses are already seeing strong results with the Audience Network."
Facebook says the Audience Network has helped Walgreens increase its reach by 5 percent in relation to other ad campaigns the pharmacy launched on the social networking site. Tests with the ad platform saw Walgreen's click conversion multiply by approximately 4.5.
The Audience Network has helped HarperCollins' William Morrow draw interest outside of Facebook's News Feed, according to Jennifer Hart, SVP and group marketing director of William Morrow.
"The Audience Network has helped us reach potential new readers outside of News Feed," said Hart. "We've found the Audience Network to be a very effective marketing tool and we've used it for some of our bestselling authors, including Susan Elizabeth Phillips and James Rollins, just to name a few."
Facebook introduced the Audience Network in April 2014. The platform serves apps with ads in banner, native and interstitial format, which is when a full-page ad appears before the actual webpage.
"Facebook's 1.5 million advertisers can now extend their Facebook campaigns to the Audience Network with just one click," said Tanya Chen, a Facebook software engineer. "This gives our publishers and developers access to a huge pool of demand that includes many of the best brands that advertise on Facebook. It also means people see ads from the brands they care about."
While Facebook has its foot on the gas driving ad sales on mobile platforms forward, the site has also been working to thwart fraudulent forms of advertising.
To recognize October as National Security Awareness Month, a Facebook engineer revealed the social networking company assessed approximately $2 billion in legal judgments against spammers and individuals who sell manufactured likes.
