Facebook Ads: Targeting Digs into Mobile Apps

It became clear quite a while ago that one of the weakest aspects in the profitability of Facebook was related to the monetization of mobile audience, that is, getting more revenue from users, who access FB on their smartphones and tablets. Therefore, as soon as the owners of the service were done with the IPO fuss, they got down to business.

As for now, it’s already possible to browse the first steps in the company’s new mobile ad strategy: FB has integrated specific mobile app targeting options, which enable track, which apps are installed on their gadgets and thus display only related ads in the mobile version of the site.

Such app targeting innovations are, undoubtedly, essential for Facebook and can increase the company’s profits to a considerable extent. The definition of what mobile applications people are using, will, actually, enable to figure out what users wish to have, what they are willing to pay and give them the ad they will respond to. Not bad, ha? 

Certainly, the introduced differentiated mobile app ads appear to be much better, than just the usage of provided basic users’ info, like personal interests or place of birth, for instance. Moreover, it hides so much potential that can, in fact, make Facebook owners much wealthier, than they hope. Yet, is it just?

With the time on, our personal data becomes more and more accessible to versatile services, leaving no space for what we used to know as “private”. It sometimes seems that we are always watched or tracked by someone, who can use the information, which isn’t supposed to become public, when it’s necessary.

Obviously, the reasons why Facebook mobile ads dive more into our lives through newly-added targeting options are related to money, but there should surely be predefined the line of privacy, which the companies should be forbidden to go beyond.

I often miss the times, when the information you provide only included the chosen name, e-mail address and password, like it is still required at 4shared, nothing more, so that I can keep what I like, who I know and apps I use to myself. 

Stay cool)

Andy