As Facebook Home prepares to make its debut on many Android-based devices, there is a major question about the user experience in relation to mobile advertising. Although Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been relatively mum on the issue of mobile advertising, some industry insiders are calling “Home” the potential “holy grail of mobile advertising.” As it stands, Zuckerberg has indicated that mobile ads will be absent from the integrated user-interface software of Home for the time being. In fact, just looking at the press for Facebook Home will show a decidedly user-friendly angle that focuses more on the experience than the profitability for the parent company.
Mobile ads on Facebook Home :
Even so, mobile ads are definitely going to occur on Facebook Home at some point. The capacity of those ads is what’s really up for debate. The idea behind Home is for Facebook to fashion itself into a “mobile first” business, and adequate mobile advertising plays a large role in that. One of the most prominent ideas regarding is its ability to produce location-specific ads. This is because it will be uniquely linked to the device and will be able to deliver ads that are locally relevant to its users.
This can manifest itself in a number of ways, but it certainly has the chance to be revolutionary for mobile advertising. For starters, most of the featured ads on non-mobile, browser versions of Facebook rely on algorithms that monitor search data. So, if a Facebook user searches for bicycle paraphernalia, then it’s likely that bicycle ads will show up on their Facebook sidebar. Many sponsored ads appear directly in the Facebook news feed, but those aren’t always targeted to a specific demographic. With localized ads, Facebook can target users in highly-specific areas.
Benefits to Advertisers :
This is also beneficial for advertisers. It’s rare for advertisers with standard Facebook to really home in on a target audience. But, localized ads allow local businesses in a specific area to deliver ads to people in that area. For instance, a local restaurant can certainly improve their exposure by purchasing Facebook Home ad space for individuals in their area. Of course, this brings up the issue of invasiveness that has plagued Facebook for years. It’s also true that overexposure to mobile ads can turn users off to using Facebook Home. So, even though the idea is brilliant in theory, it might backfire if it’s employed to an undesirable degree.
In the end, the forces behind Facebook Home for Android are looking to foster an environment primed for mobile ad revenue. In fact, some insiders believe that the mobile ad features on Facebook Home could end up rivaling Google’s AdWords. If the advertising component of Facebook Home is a hit with both advertisers and users, then there’s no reason to suspect that Facebook can’t cut in to Google’s stranglehold on mobile ad revenue. Regardless, we are a long way from seeing Google usurped the mobile ad king, but it’s interesting that Facebook is making a play on Google’s own software. It remains to be seen if Facebook will make major strides in ad revenue with Facebook Home, but the outlook is certainly promising.
